CPM asks Adani group to opt out of airport contract

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The CPM state committee has asked Adani Enterprises Ltd, which won the bid to take the Trivandrum International Airport on lease for 50 years, to back out from the contract. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Adani group should give way for the state government to manage the airport.
KSIDC, the state government representative, had come a distant second in the bidding process.The Kerala government has experience in managing two airports – Kochi and Kannur – and has every right to manage Trivandrum airport for which the state has given 635 acres free of cost, Kodiyeri said.

“Adani group is already constructing a sea port at Vizhinjam which is near the airport. In future, they can even convert the Trivandrum airport into a cargo airport. There is no clause in the contract to address this conflict of interest,” Kodiyeri told reporters here.
The CPM, which has decided to take up airport privatisation as a major poll plank, has announced a Raj Bhavan march on Friday as the first step towards intensifying the protest. “We wish all political parties will join the protest as the deal is totally against the state’s interests,” said Kodiyeri.
Alleging huge corruption and nepotism in handing over the airport to Adani group, Kodiyeri said the tender itself had been tailor-made to suit Adani. “We demand a high-level probe into the deal,” he said.
Quoting statistics, Kodiyeri said the deal would help Adani fetch Rs 10,700 crore as revenue from users’ fee alone in 50 years. “Landing fee collected from airline companies alone will be around Rs 6,912 crore during this period. There are several other avenues like auctioning of duty free shops and parking lots to mobilize revenue. Hundreds of acres in the heart of the city will also come under the control of the Adani group where they can build star hotels and malls and generate more revenue,” he said.
“The clause in the contract is to provide only Rs 168 per passenger to AAI. There is no provision to revise the amount within the 50 years of contract. All these conditions are included to favour the bidder,” he said.