The Hindu Business Line : Airport upgrade: Left prefers `greenfield route'

THE Left parties have asked the Government to consider adopting the `greenfield route' for the development of the airports in Delhi, Mumbai and other important cities.

In a communication to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the four Left parties have said that this was the route adopted by most of the South-East and East Asian countries for addressing the issue.

The four Left parties — CPI (M), CPI, AIFB and RSP — have expressed their "firm opposition" to any unilateral decision to privatise the Delhi and Mumbai airports. The letter points out that in the absence of consensus pursuant to the consultation with the employees and in the light of alternative plan submitted by the employees, the best option was to speed up the modernisation of these airports through AAI instead of wasting time in going through a privatisation or joint venture route. "In that case the current modernisation programme can be left to the AAI, which will fill in the infrastructure constraint temporarily till the new greenfields are commissioned," the letter states.

The Government is following the joint venture route for modernisation and restructuring of the two metro airports in which the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will have a minority stake. The modernisation move has seen some of the leading industrial houses in the country, including Reliance, GMR and GVK, taking part.

The letter points out that financing of the project should not be a problem as not only has AAI consistently been earning profits but it also had reserves of Rs 2,500 crore and a debt equity ratio of 1:1.5. "Finance can be easily tapped further from debt market for the purpose of financing the modernisation scheme costing Rs 5,000-6,000 crore in the first phase of five years as offered by some private bidders," the letter points out.

The letter "regrets" that in spite of the categorical commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) not to privatise profit-making public sector undertakings, the UPA Government continued to pursue the same route of privatisation of the top two major revenue-earning airports at Delhi and Mumbai.

The letter, opposing the move to privatise the two metro airports, comes days before the empowered Group of Ministers (e-GoM) is scheduled to meet to take a final decision on who should be chosen as the successful bidder for restructuring and modernising the two airports.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

More Stories on : Politics | Infrastructure

Stories in this Section
Finishing schools vital to make engg grads industry-ready

Jitters for Tamil Nadu as another storm brews

Small investors dogged by dud shares: Survey

TDSAT upholds leased line tariff order of regulator — Global bandwidth users in for bonanza

Rupee breaches 46-mark again

Airport upgrade: Left prefers `greenfield route'

Shipping stocks up on firm freight rates

Satyam on leadership training drive

FII-fuelled Sensex tips over 9,000 — Auto stocks in limelight

Rs 10,000 crore investment likely in SEZ infrastructure