Kerala Govt Moves SC Seeking Stay On Centre's Move To Privatise Thiruvananthapuram Airport

The Kerala Government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the HC's order and the Centre’s decision to lease out the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram through Public-Private Partnership. Earlier, Kerala High Court had rejected a petition of the Kerala Government challenging its leasing out. The Kerala Assembly had also passed unanimous resolution demanding the revocation of the Centre's decision.

READ | Kerala Assembly Passes Unanimous Resolution Against Leasing Of Thiruvananthapuram Airport

However, BJP's lone MLA O Rajagopal had staged a walkout from the Assembly after he was not allowed to speak on the issue. While moving the resolution, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan had contended that the Union government's move could not be justified as the state government had offered to match the amount quoted by the highest bidder. 

READ | Thiruvananthapuram airport privatisation:Opposing move, CPI(M) to send 2 lakh emails to PM

Union Cabinet clears proposal to lease out airports

In a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the proposal to hand over the operation, management and development of the airports at Kerala’s capital, Jaipur and Guwahati to M/s Adani Enterprises Ltd for a period of 50 years was approved. The latter emerged as the successful bidder in a Global Competitive Bidding organised by the Airports Authority of India. According to the Centre, this will not only harness investment in the public sector but also bring efficiency in service delivery and professionalism.

READ | Kerala: RTI records show KSIDC spent 2.3 crores in Airport bidding

Talking about the airport's 2019 privatisation process on Twitter, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Kerala government quoted Rs 135 per passenger, whereas the winning bid quoted Rs 168 per passenger. Per-passenger fee was the criteria for the bidding process held in early 2019 for six airports, including Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram. Adani Enterprises became the highest bidder for all six airports. Adani Enterprises has already signed the concessionaire agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on February 14, 2020, for operation, management and development of Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Lucknow airports.

READ | Kerala HC Dismisses State Govt's Plea Against Lease Of Thiruvananthapuram Airport