Thiruvananthapuram: With the Airport Authority of India (AAI) deciding to hand over the operations of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Adani, the owners of the 18 acres of land to be acquired for the airport have decided to back out of their offer to surrender the land following apprehensions over leasing the airport to a private party.
Vayyamoola joint action council chairman Saifuddin Haji told Deccan Chronicle that they had conveyed their apprehensions over the privatisation of the airport to the government. "Let there be clarity on the control of the land proposed to be acquired first. Any decision on handing over the land will be taken only afterwards," said Mr Haji.
Airport Authority Employees Union general secretary S. Ajithkumar said that there was still lack of clarity whether the present staff of the airport would be retained even after operations are handed over to the Adani Enterprises. The management had not convened any meeting with the employees before finalising the bid, said Mr Ajithkumar.
Sources also expressed doubts whether the airport privatisation would generate profit for the AAI. While the AAI generated a profit of Rs 169 crore last year, Adani who is the highest bidder would have to pay only Rs 73 crore annually to the AAI. The amount to be paid quoted by Adani group is Rs 168 per passenger. The total number of passengers last year was 44 lakh, including 19 lakh in the domestic sector.
There was also criticism against the state government which was now opposing the bid after participating through KSIDC, its own agency. KSIDC has been flayed for failing to gauge the market correctly and submit a per passenger rate at least below 10 percent of the main bidder which would have helped it get a second chance. The KSIDC quoted only Rs 135 which was Rs 35 less than that of Adani.
The state government has also been assailed for not allowing Cochin International Airport Limited to bid for Thiruvananthapuram, instead of for Mangalore. Thiruvananthapuram with more international passengers was considered as more profitable. Of the five airports won by Adani Enterprises, it quoted the lowest amount for Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 168) and Mangalore (Rs 115) while it quoted over Rs 170 for the other three airports.
