A reported move to acquire land held by BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL) at Chakka for the development of the Thiruvananthapuram airport would adversely impact the expansion plans of the missile unit, fear BATL employees.
Employees, under the aegis of the BrahMos Aerospace Staff Federation, have approached Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urging him to ensure that BATL is compensated with an equal area of land if at all the unit's land is taken over for airport development. BATL stands to lose 5.3 acres, including land obtained from the Indian Air Force (IAF) for further expansion of the unit, under a proposal to transfer land for the development of the airport, the federation said in its petition to the Chief Minister.
“'The acquisition of land for the airport is a concern for BATL at this moment as DRDO-GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment) has already sanctioned ₹30 crore to set up facilities for the manufacturing of turbofan engine on this land in a time-bound programme,” the petition says. Besides, there is no clarity on whether BATL would be compensated with substitute land. In such a situation, the land acquisition will adversely impact the future expansion plans of BATL, it said.
The staff federation has proposed that if BATL is compensated with an equal area of land from the nearby Government ITI at Chakka, the crisis into which BATL will be plunged can be averted as it can go ahead with the strategically-important work unhindered. The federation has urged the Chief Minister to urgently look into the issue.
Subsidiary
BATL was established in 2008 as a subsidiary of the Indo-Russian JV BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL) by taking over State government’s public sector unit, KELTEC.
