The Adani group has finally taken over all the operations and the management of the Thiruvananthapuram International airport. At the brief function that was held at the airport in the early hours of Thursday, the senior officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Ahmedabad-based Adani group were present at the function.
Now Adani Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (ATIAL) will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd and from now on Adani will operate, manage and develop the airport for 50 years, which is under a concession agreement that was signed along with the Airport Authority of India (AAI)
The Adani Group has won the competitive bidding process of this 89-year-old airport, which was held in February 2019. While the bidders who lost the bid were State-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and the GMR Group. The Adani group is also on its way to construct the Vizhinjam international seaport in the Thiruvananthapuram district. Talking about the budget to build this seaport, they have a budget of ₹7,525 crores. Adani Enterprises Ltd had decided ₹168 as the per-passenger fee which will be payable to the Airport Authority of India.
Last year, in August, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution protesting the privatization of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport.
Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Chief Minister had criticized the takeover of the airport by the Adani group, as he said that it was not for the development of the facility but actually to protect the interest of monopolies.
But the Central Government and the Airport Authority of India had accepted and then proceeded with the decision to lease out the airport to the Adani Group, by ignoring the objections raised by the Kerala Government, which had since then moved the Court. Also in November last year, the State Government urged the Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court dismissed its request opposing the transfer. But the decision of the Supreme Court is awaited.
R. Madhavan, Regional Executive Director, AAI; N. V. Subbarayudu, executive director, JVC/PPP, AAI; V. B. Chandrakumar, general manager (finance), AAI, Chennai; Airport director C. V. Ravindran, Airport Chief Officer (ATIAL) Madhusoodana Rao, and Rajesh Jha, CEO, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, and S.N. Raghuchandran Nair, president, Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was present there.
The Thiruvananthapuram airport was established in 1932 and then it was declared as an ‘international airport’ in 1991. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is the first of four airports in the state and was established in 1932. The Thiruvananthapuram airport was operated and owned by the Airports Authority of India.
On Monday, Adani Group took over the operations of the Jaipur International Airport from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The international airport has been handed over to the Adani Group by the government of India for a period of 50 years. The company took over the airport at midnight on Monday.
In India, Jaipur airport is the 11th busiest airport in daily scheduled flight operations. It is located in the southern suburb of Sanganer. On 29th December 2005, the airport was granted the status of an International airport. The civil apron can accommodate 14 aircraft and the new terminal building can handle up to around 1,000 passengers at a time.
The symbolic key of the airport was handed to the Chief Airport Officer Adani Jaipur International Ltd Vishnu Jha by the Airport director J S Balhara, in the presence of other officials. Balhara informed that the company will work on the management, operations, and development of the Jaipur airport through PPP mode.
