The State government is putting pressure on the Centre to change its stance on handing over Thiruvananthapuram international airport to a private player for operating, managing and developing it for the next 50 years.
It wanted the Centre to retain the premier airport under the State government in the public sector. Replying to a calling attention by C.K. Hareendran in the Assembly on Monday on the privatisation move and the need to exert pressure on the Centre, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government had formed a consortium under the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) to participate in the bidding process that had commenced.
The Chief Minister said the privatisation move of the airport, managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and generating profit, had come when the government was on the final stages of acquiring 18 acres of land for the integrated terminal on the city side. “This is against the interest of the State and we had asked the Centre to review the decision.”
As there was no positive response from the Centre to the requests of the State government, Mr. Vijayan said the government had formed the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Limited (TIAL), a special purpose vehicle, and had appointed technical, financial and legal consultants to take a call on the bids floated by the AAI.
The Chief Minister informed the House that the State’s request for unlimited Right of First Refusal for the newly floated TIAL had been rejected and had been given only 10% Right of First Refusal by the Centre.
