NEW DELHI: Ashok Chawla, Union civil aviation secretary said on Wednesday the government has called a meeting of all stakeholders on April 29 to discuss issues related to the Bangalore International Airport (Bial), keeping in mind the suggestion made by the Karnataka High Court.
So, will there could be a renegotiation of the concession agreement with Bial?
“Theoretically, the developer may agree to some conditionschanges (in the concession agreement)……we are not seeking anything specific (from the developer) but a meeting has certainly been scheduled to discuss the project.”
To be chaired by Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel, this meeting has been called after the high court asked all stakeholders - the Centre, Airports Authority of India, Karnataka Government and BIAL - to sit down and discuss the twin issues of keeping the old HAL airport open and levy of user development fee.
Among other things, the concession agreement prohibits any existing or new airport to come up within 150 km for the next 30 years.
Would a similar meeting would be held with the developers of the Hyderabad airport led by GMR Group?
Chawla said there were no such plans.
In Hyderabad also the government is facing persistent demands for keeping the old airport at Begumpet open but GMR has steadfastly refused to oblige, citing the concession agreement.
The review meeting for BIAL is crucial since it comes just after the high court directive and may lead to a delay in the inauguration of the new facility.
There are already indications that the May 11 deadline for inaugurating the new facility may be missed, largely because of the looming state elections.
Senior civil aviation ministry officials and those from the director general of civil aviation’s office are scheduled to conduct extensive tests on the new airport over the next few days to assess whether all technical and safety procedures have been put in place.
This assessment would decide if BIAL can keep the May 11 deadline.
b_sindhu@dnaindia.net
