Stressing that the state government will not be able to “fully cooperate” in the light of the “unilateral decision” by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, the Kerala CM sought Prime Minister’s intervention.
After the cabinet approval by the centre to lease out three airports, including the one in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala’s LDF government has objected strongly to the Centre’s decision. The Kerala government said that leasing out of the airport for 50 years to a private company was against “the assurance given during a personal meeting with PM in New Delhi”.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the Kerala CM has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the recent approval by the centre overlooked Kerala’s repeated requests that the airport’s operations and management be transferred to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in which the state government is a major stakeholder.
“The assurance was that as and when the indication of a private player is considered, Government of India would factor in contributions made by the state government for the development of the Trivandrum Airport,” Vijayan said in his letter to PM Modi.
The involvement of a private company in the operation and management of the Thiruvanathapuram airport is against the “the assurance given by Ministry Of Civil Aviation, Government of India in 2003… to factor in the contributions made by the state government for development of the airport”, the Kerala CM stressed.
The Vijayan government in Kerala had transferred 23.57 acres in 2005 “free of cost” to the Airport Authority of India for the construction of an international terminal on the terms that the land value should be reflected as the state’s share capital in a Special Purpose Vehicle to oversee the airport’s operations.
Stressing that the state government will not be able to “fully cooperate” in the light of the “unilateral decision” by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, the Kerala CM sought Prime Minister’s intervention.
In his letter, Vijayan also referred to the Kochi and Kannur airports, which are also operated and managed by the state government through Special Purpose Vehicles.
CM Vijayan also called an all-party meeting at 4 PM today, to discuss leasing out of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on a Public-Private Partnership basis.
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