The state had decided to challenge the Center’s decision after a meeting of all parties (Archive)
New Delhi:
The Center’s decision to lease Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Adani Companies has been challenged in the Supreme Court by the left-wing government in Kerala, which has called for it to be frozen. The airport was one of six for which the Adani group had won a 50-year lease in February 2019.
The state had decided to challenge the Center’s decision after an all-party meeting. Both the Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front have opposed Adani’s inauguration.
“The central government’s decision to ‘sell’ Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to a private player is daylight theft,” Minister of State Kadakampally Surendran had said, noting that the state had everything ready for the airport, including provision of land.
The state went to the High Court, which had refused to interfere in the privatization process, after which the state went to the Supreme Court.
The Superior Court had overturned the Superior Court’s decision, but said the case must be decided on merits.
Last month, the High Court dismissed the Kerala government’s statement and has now appealed to the Supreme Court.
Following the Kerala government’s opposition to leasing the airport to Adani companies, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that the Kerala government did not qualify in the international bidding process for Thiruvananthapuram airport.
“Winning bid quoted Rs 168 per passenger, KSIDC quoted Rs 135 per passenger and third qualifying bidder was at Rs 63 per passenger. Therefore, despite the special provision of ROFR being provided to Government of Kenya (Government of Kerala), they could not qualify in international tenders process carried out in a transparent way, “said Puri, referring to the” right of first refusal “or RoFR. “They (Kerala) subsequently turned to the Honorable Kerala High Court and the Honorable Supreme Court. All these facts are available in the public domain,” the minister had said.
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