Trivandrum airport privatisation: Kerala feels heat; KPMG blocked

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  The state government on Friday felt the heat in connection with the privatisation of Trivandrum airport with the employees owing allegiance to the Airport Authority Employees Union (AAEU) thwarting the attempt of the officials of the KSIDC and its technical consultant KPMG to inspect the airport and documents.

KSIDC is the nodal agency of the Trivandrum International Airport Ltd special purpose vehicle formed to bid for the airport. 

According to the representatives of the AAEU, the union is against the privatisation of the airport. So there is no point in supporting the players be it private or government-owned SPV as the state government has only limited stakes in the consortium and majority stakes would be owned by private companies. 

The union members had earlier blocked the attempt of the consultants of GMR Group and Adani Group to inspect the airport. However, sources close to the SPV told Express they have inspected the airport and vetted the documents despite the protest of the employees. 

They also termed it was unfortunate employees tried to block the way of representatives of the government-owned SPV as it is trying to retain the airport under the custody of the state.

The state has hired Netherlands-based KPMG as a technical consultant for assisting the consortium of companies formed by the state to bid for the Trivandrum International Airport by paying a sum of Rs 1.45 crore as consultancy fee.

The KPMG is trying to explore the possibility of including global players like Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Frankfurt or Flughafen München GmbH in the consortium of companies along with helping the SPV to compete in the bidding.