KSRTC twin towers: A blacklisted company in disguise wins contract, UDF alleges foul play

Kerala Legislative Assembly
Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Opposition UDF on Tuesday alleged questionable motives behind the LDF government's decision to hand over the running of the KSRTC Terminal Complex, Kozhikode, to Alif Builders. The charge was that the terminal was leased to Alif Builders at throwaway terms. The non-refundable deposit the leaseholder has to pay, it was said, was whittled down from Rs 50 crore to Rs 17.48 crore.

Congress MLA T Siddique, who moved an adjournment motion on the issue, said Alif Builders was just another name for Mac Associates that had won an earlier tender to operate the terminal but had abandoned the agreement when it came to light that it did not have financial stability. In 2018, Mac had agreed to a non-refundable deposit of Rs 50 crore.

Siddique further said that one of the partners of Alif Builders, Moitheen Koya, was indicted in a forgery case. Koya, incidentally, was the owner of Mac Associates.

Transport minister Antony Raju challenged the Opposition to prove that Mac and Alif were the same. "But even if they are the same, we cannot prevent an entity from taking part in a tender process if it participates in a legal manner, " the minister said. He also argued that it was decided to reduce the non-refundable deposit because the market value of the complex had gone down after 2017. "Insisting on a higher deposit was not justifiable," Raju said. He said a space in Kozhikode Cyber Park was cheaper.

KSRTC Terminal Complex in Kozhikode; Transport Minister Antony Raju

The terminal complex was part of an ambitious KSRTC plan to take advantage of the commercial possibilities of prime real estate in its possession. The idea took shape when Mathew T Thomas was transport minister under V S Achuthanandan.

Besides the Kozhikode terminal, three other KSRTC commercial complexes had come up in Thiruvananthapuram, Angamaly and Thiruvalla. These complexes, however, did not fetch KSRTC any significant revenue as there were not many takers for the commercial space these complexes had on offer. There was revenue only from the Angamaly complex, but this too was very scant. Between 2011 and 2017, the complex that was completed for nearly Rs 40 crore generated revenue of just Rs 3.71 crore.

The Kozhikode terminal, which was inaugurated seven years ago, was handed over to Alif Builders in August this year. Their contract is for 30 years. As per the agreement, Alif would invest Rs 17 crore as a non-refundable security deposit and pay a monthly rent of ₹43 lakh for the commercial space.

The project was constructed at a cost of Rs 65 crore and was inaugurated on June 1, 2015.

A study conducted by IIT Madras had found serious structural instability, and noted that the condition of the complex was "critical". The report, which was filed in 2009, said that hundreds of beams and columns of the structure were weak owing to insufficient steel reinforcement. The terminal is popularly known as the twin towers because it consists of two buildings of ten and 11 floors. Serious cracks have also been found on the roof and slabs.

Antony Raju said that the Alif Builders had taken over the operation fully aware of the structural deficiencies. "It seems as if the company was doing KSRTC a favour, " Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said, as if he found the minister's claim funny.

Satheesan alleged that Alif Builders was asking for further concessions even after the government had diluted the terms in their favour. "As if all that was offered to them was not enough, they are now asking for the reduction of stamp duty, GST and registration fee. They also want more time to pay the highly reduced non-refundable deposit of Rs 17 crore, " Satheesan said.

He also said the tender process was shrouded in innumerable mysteries. "Lots of middlemen were also involved, " the Opposition Leader charged. 

In fact, Malayala Manorama had earlier this year reported that the finance department found that the conditions laid down in the tender were not beneficial for the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation Limited (KTDFC) or the KSRTC. The finance department had even recommended that the tender be cancelled. Yet, the Cabinet decided to ahead with Alif overruling the Finance Department.

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