Published 09:06 IST, August 21st 2020
Kerala Govt did not qualify in Thiruvananthapuram airport bidding process: Aviation Min
Kerala govt did not qualify in Thiruvananthapuram airport's bidding process that was held in a transparent manner, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said
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The Kerala government did not qualify in Thiruvananthapuram International airport's bidding process that was carried out in a transparent manner, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday after the state opposed to the Centre’s decision to lease out the airport to Adani Enterprises through public-private partnership (PPP) for 50 years.
Talking about the airport's 2019 privatisation process on Twitter, 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.
Winning bid quoted ₹168 per passenger, KSIDC quoted ₹135 per passenger & third qualifying bidder was at ₹63 per passenger.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 20, 2020
Thus, despite special provision of RoFR being given to GoK, they could not qualify in international bidding process carried out in a transparent manner.
Kerala Government loses bid
Before the bidding process, the Centre and the Kerala government had agreed that if the KSIDC's bid falls within the 10% range of the winning bid, it would be awarded the airport, the Aviation Minister said. However, the difference between Adani's bid and KSIDC's bid stood at 19.64% qualifying the former as the winner.
It was stipulated that if the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) bid comes within the 10% range of the winning bid, they would be awarded the work. There was a difference of 19.64% between them & the next bidder when bids were open.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 20, 2020
"Thus, despite the special provision of RoFR (right of first refusal) being given to the Kerala Government, they could not qualify in the international bidding process carried out in a transparent manner," Puri stated.
State opposes Centre's move
The Kerala government on Thursday called an all-party meeting to discuss and oppose the Centre's decision to hand over of the management and operation of the Thiruvananthapuram airport to the Adani group. The leaders contended that the airport should be retained in the public sector. They also supported the view that the state government has sufficient experience in managing and operating two international airports at Kochi and Kannur.
Thiruvananthapuram airport privatised to Adani rejecting the claim of Kerala govt , even after offer to match Adani’s rate . PMO’s promise to accept Kerala proposal broken. People of Kerala will not accept this act of brazen cronyism.#Airportprivatisation
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 20, 2020
READ | Aviation Ministry To Present Proposal On 'further Airport Privatisation' To Cabinet On Wed: Puri
In February 2019, Adani Enterprises won all six airports as it was the highest bidder. In July 2019, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for leasing out three of them - Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Lucknow. Eight months later, Adani Enterprises signed the concessionaire agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on February 14, 2020, for operation, management and development of these three airports.
In June this year, the AAI gave three more months to the company to take over the management of these three airports due to the COVID-19 situation, pushing the deadline from August 12 to November 12.
09:06 IST, August 21st 2020