New Delhi: Despite the many calls to hand over the operation of Thiruvananthapuram airport to Kerala, the Centre Government is yet to make a decision.
"The Government still has to take a call ... whether we should proceed as planned or consider the request of the Kerala government," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
The Adani Group had edged Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and the GMR Group (the operator of Delhi and Hyderabad airports) to gain the operational control of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport earlier this year.
The government had accorded 'in principle' the approval for leasing six airports of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) through a public-private partnership model in 2018. These include Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram airports for operation, management and development.
Adani Group had bid for all six and have won four. Airports Authority of India has already issued letters of award for handing over Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports to Adani Enterprises Ltd. Jaipur will soon join that list.
This marks their entry into the country's aviation sector.
Severe opposition
This decision to hand over the operation of six airports in the country to private companies had drawn severe flak.
Though the Kerala government itself was against the idea, it later participated in the bid through the public sector entity KSIDC. However, the KSIDC was only granted a bid difference of 10 per cent.
The Kerala government had moved the High Court challenging AAI's "arbitrary and illegal" attempt to prefer a private entity for the management of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
In a writ petition on March 5, the state government stated that AAI's attempt to grant Adani Enterprises the rights was not in public interest. It was also "violative" of the provisions of the AAI Act as well as the propriety rights of the state government as regards to the land wherein the airport was situated, it added.
The airport, established in 1932, was built on 258.06 acres of land owned by the princely state of Travancore. This 258.06 acres of land has been entered in revenue records as government land.
That's not all, the state government, having expertise in airport management and also creditworthiness more than that of the private entity (which does not possess the previous experience in airport management) should ideally be preferred in public interest.
KSIDC's (TIAL) bid was a fairly competitive one.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him not to hand over the international airport to a private entity. In his missive, Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the growing "public resentment" would make it difficult for the state to back a "private agency".
The chief minister had also called the entire bidding process into question.
"The absence of a prior experience clause in the tender document was surprising. Instead, experience in infrastructure development alone was asked for. That the Adani Group, which had no experience in airport development, has won six bids, makes the entire process suspicious," Pinarayi said.
Centre acknowledges the letter, remains unmoved
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri acknowledges the letter.
"[Kerala] Chief Minister has written to us. Kerala government has requested not to privatise the operation of this airport. We will have to take a call based on the facts on record and bid received," he said.
Earlier, former Union Minister A K Antony had also urged Puri to take the request of the state government as a special case.
Puri, however, pointed out that Kerala has a very rich history of privatisation and houses the first airport that was privatised in the 1980s. He also added that the government's own experiment privatising Delhi and Mumbai airports have been successful.
He said the government had received several representations including from members of the Opposition saying that the bid which has been received from the party which has won the six airports, should be allowed to proceed.
"MPs from the opposition have taken a stand that government are not normally adept in running the airport," he added.
Pinarayi vs Centre
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lashed back at the government saying that the state had provided 635 acres free for the development of the airport.
"Our decision to transfer 23.57 acres in 2005 for the construction of the new international terminal was conditional," the chief minister said. A major condition was that if under any circumstances the airport was made into a company, the cost of the land transferred free of cost should be converted into the state's share.
He also pointed out that the civil aviation secretary had in 2003 given a written assurance that the state government would be consulted whenever there was a move to introduce private participation in the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
Change your attitude: Nitin Gadkari
The BJP-led NDA government at the centre would not show any bias towards Kerala even though the state did not even elect a single BJP candidate during the recent Lok Sabha polls, but change your attitude, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said.
"The CPM government's stance towards development projects must change. If Kerala continues to oppose projects with lame arguments, then your future generations would have to seek employment abroad," he added.
Nitin Gadkari also mentioned the Vizhinjam project which he had proposed be given to the same Adani Group which now has won the bid for the airport. The CPM had also opposed this move. The agreement for the port project was later signed during the previous UDF rule.
With all this jostling, "you are losing precious time," Gadkari warned.
Adani Group holds the high ground, but the fight is not over
The Adani Group will be in a vantage position in south India if the company is invited to operate the Thiruvananthapuram airport. The company is already in charge of the multi-crore Vizhinjam International Port which will see operations begin later this year.
But the fight is long from over. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has the wind of sentiment burgeoning his sails. "The airport rightfully belongs to Kerala, and it is not going from our hands," he said stoutly.
