A day after the Union Cabinet cleared leasing out of three airports — Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Guwahati — to Adani Enterprises, a political slugfest has started over the privatisation of the Thiruvananthapuram airport. Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, saying the “unilateral decision” taken by the Centre was against the wishes of the people of the state.
Last year, the government had invited bids from private players to operate these airports for 50 years on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which currently manages these airports, in February 2019, announced the bids received from nine companies for privatisation of six airports including Lucknow, Mangaluru and Ahmedabad. Adani Enterprises outbid other companies for all six of these airports.
