Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that Kerala government did not qualify in Thiruvananthapuram airport's bidding process which was carried out in a transparent manner. The Kerala government has opposed the Union Cabinet's approval on Wednesday to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram airport to Adani Enterprises through public-private partnership for a period of 50 years. Before the bidding process, the Centre and the Kerala government had agreed that if the KSIDC's bid comes within the 10 per cent range of the winning bid, it would be awarded the airport, Puri said. However, since the difference between Adani's bid and K S I D C's bid was 19.64 per cent during the bidding process, the former was qualified as the winner. "Thus, despite the special provision of right of first refusal being given to government of Kerala, they could not qualify in the international bidding process carried out in a transparent manner," Puri stated.