Karnataka scouts for new partner in airport venture

To make the offer more attractive to the bidders, the State Government in consultation with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar has relegated the present airport at HAL for mere VIP flights, flight of only light aircraft with not more than 52 seats and convert the present space for training and as a service airport.

Minister for Major Industries B L Shankar, who briefed newsmen on the Cabinet decision here on Friday, said the Statehad agreed to float a joint venture company involving the Karnataka State Industrial Investment Corporation (KSIIDC) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) with 13 per cent equity participation each and call for global bids inviting private participation to execute the project.

This was in contrast with the earlier offer made to Tatas in which the private company was the sole proprietor of the project. Now the government will have the crucial 26 per cent equity under its control which will help them to have a say while making major decisions in the project, Shankar said.

The KSIIDC would engage the service of a consultant, which has expertise in such project to guide the terms and conditions to be stipulated in the new short term global tenders and the tenders would issue by May and a final decision on the private partnership of the joint venture would be finalised by June.

The other differences in the new project depends on the response for the global tender with a condition for depositing EarnestMoney deposit(EMD). The new project will have an option to go for more than one runway or not. Shankar said the proposed international airport will come up on the same space in Devanahalli near Bangalore and refuted media reports that the location of the proposed international airport would be shifted to Bidadi. He said Chief Minister J H Patel wrote to Tatas on March 22, 1999 seeking a firm reply and in response Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tatas Consortium, replied that their firm was withdrawing from the project.

The KSIIDC had been authorised to raise Rs 150 crore funds to acquire land for the project, pay compensation to acquired land to expedite the project and for other initial investment. The government will maintain total transparency in the fresh open global tenders, he said.