Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to reconsider the decision to "hand over the management and operation of the Trivandrum International Airport to a private bidder".
In a letter, the Chief Minister said that a meeting of leaders of all political parties in the state was convened through video conference and "the overwhelming view that emerged in the meeting, barring a lone voice to the contrary, was that given the unique place the Trivandrum International Airport has in the history of the State, its management and operation needs to vest with the state government".
Vijayan said he had written to the Prime Minister on August 19 to express his government's concerns regarding the decision of the Union cabinet concerning the airport.
He said the decision has been taken "ignoring the repeated requests of the State Government to hand over the management and operation of the airport to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in which the state government is a stakeholder".
The union cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal to lease out Thiruvananthapuram and two other airports through Public Private Partnership (PPP) for "operation, management and development" to Ad Enterprises Ltd, who was declared as the successful bidder in global competitive bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India, for a period of 50 years.
The letter said that from the days of the erstwhile princely State of Travancore, substantial contributions have been made for the development of the Trivandrum International Airport through grant of land free of cost.
"The near consensus that emerged in the meeting was that considering the assistance which the state has rendered wholeheartedly, the Central Government should not have ignored the rightful claim of the former for management and operation of the Trivandrum International Airport," the letter said.
He said the state government through its SPV, which participated in the bid, had expressed willingness to match the offer of the highest bidder.
"In these circumstances, it was felt by the leaders that there is no justification for overlooking the claim of the state," the letter said.
The letter said the leaders also supported the view that the State Government has sufficient experience in successfully managing and operating two international airports in the State at Kochi and Kannur.
The letter said that the state assembly had collectively requested the Central Government through a resolution dated August 11, 2018, "not to privatise the airport".
At the meeting of leaders of political parties in the state, all parties except BJP opposed the decision concerning the airport.
( With inputs from ANI )
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