Rel Airport gets 5 projects on lease
Mumbai: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Airport Developers Ltd is on its way to picking up five airports in rural Maharashtra on a 95-year lease for only Rs 63 crore from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. Government officials told TOI on Wednesday that the MIDC board had passed the proposal last week and recommended to the government that the five airports — in Yavatmal, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad and Baramati — be leased at this price. MIDC officials said they could have got a more impressive price in a better economic scenario though state industries secretary A M Khan said the government was satisfied with the price it was getting. These airports are being given on a lease of 95 years and the MIDC has also allowed construction of a greenfield airport — by IRB, (the company that collects toll at Mumbai nakas) — at Chipi in Sindhudurg. This land, too, has been given on a lease for 95 years.MIDC insiders said all the airports being leased out had come up because some minister or the other wanted airports in their hometowns. The airport in Nanded was extended at a cost of Rs 110 crore only last year and the one in Latur was refurbished by the MIDC at a cost of Rs 25 crore. But there has been little by way of operations at either of these airports. Yavatmal and Osmanabad have had no commercial operation till now. ‘‘We were finding it difficult to maintain these airports as, apart from the odd state government plane, there has not been much usage. We were finding it difficult and hence wanted to hand over these airports to private parties,’’ a senior MIDC official said. Khan said the proposal to lease away the five airports to Reliance was awaiting a final nod from the government. ‘‘The MIDC had received three bids for the lease of Baramati and Osmanabad airports and Reliance topped it,’’ MIDC joint chief officer N Deshmukh said. The MIDC will get Rs 36 crore for these two airports and Rs 27 crore for the other three. Deshmukh said that they had got two bids for the airports in Latur, Nanded and Yavatmal. Khan denied that the airports were being given away at a low price. ‘‘The MIDC is not an airport-developing agency and we have to rope in private developers who will develop and have long-term planning,’’ Khan said. Another senior official justified the lease, saying: ‘‘Who will want to lease the Osmanabad airport? It’s just an airport with no facility. What’s wrong if a private bidder takes it on lease and develops it? But we could have got a better price if the economy had picked up.’’TNN --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
