The Adani Group has formally taken charge of the operations and management of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
Senior officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Ahmedabad-based Adani Group were present at the brief function held at the airport in the early hours of Thursday.
Adani Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (ATIAL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, will now operate, manage and develop the airport for a period of 50 years under a concession agreement signed with the AAI.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Adani Group, which is constructing the ₹7,525 crore Vizhinjam international seaport in Thiruvananthapuram district, had won the competitive bidding process for the 89-year-old airport held in February 2019. State-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and the GMR Group were the unsuccessful bidders.
Adani Enterprises Ltd had quoted ₹168 as the per-passenger fee payable to the AAI.
In August last year, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution protesting the airport privatisation.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Central Government and the AAI had gone ahead with the decision to lease out the airport to the Adani Group ignoring the objections of the Kerala Government, which had since then moved the Court. In November last year, the State Government petitioned the Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court dismissed its plea opposing the transfer. The decision of the Supreme Court is awaited.
Established in 1932, the Thiruvananthapuram airport was declared an 'international airport' tag in 1991.
R. Madhavan, Regional Executive Director, AAI; N. V. Subbarayudu, executive director, JVC/PPP, AAI; V. B. Chandrakumar, general manager (finance), AAI, Chennai; Airport director C. V. Ravindran, Airport Chief Officer (ATIAL) Madhusoodana Rao, and Rajesh Jha, CEO, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, and S.N. Raghuchandran Nair, president, Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, were present.