Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said it will be difficult to offer cooperation for the implementation of the Cabinet decision to hand over Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to the private player as it is ‘against the wishes of the people.’

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Wednesday, the Chief Minister has pointed out that the decision of the Centre was ‘unilateral without giving credence to the cogent arguments’ put forward by the State government. Mr. Vijayan has asked the Prime Minister to intervene and reconsider the decision taken by the Cabinet .

The decision is in contravention to the assurance given by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2003 that contributions by the State government for the development of the airport will be factored. “There was further assurance in this regard when we had a personal meeting in New Delhi,” Mr. Vijayan said.

The State government had transferred 23.57 acres to the Airport Authority of India free of cost for the construction of the international terminal subject to the condition that the value of the land would be reflected as Government of Kerala share capital in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which would be set up.

In the meeting of the Empowered Group of Secretaries convened by the NITI Aayog on December 4, 2018, representatives of the State had explained in detail the extent of public funds spent for acquiring the land which was transferred free of cost.

The Chief Minister has pointed out that the private bidder lacked the proven experience the State had in successful management and operation of the airports in Kochi and Kannur.

“Our request to delink the airport from the proposal to operate in PPP mode or allow the SPV of the State to have the right to first refusal in order to match the quote to the highest bidder was also not considered,” he said.

The Chief Minister has pointed out that even in his letter on June 10 this year the request to handover the airport to the SPV was reiterated. This has not been considered and the present decision has come even while the litigation in this regard is pending before the High Court as directed by the Supreme Court, he said.