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Well, this is a complicated multi-faceted issue which is also bit cluttered at multiple levels.The whole issue is blown out of proportion when Kerala Govt objected privatization of Trivandrum airport which was announced by Central Govt by handing over the airport operations to Adani Group.I will just give a brief background to the context for those who have no idea of its whole context and then to current context.Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is one of India’s oldest airports, much to the league of Delhi or Mumbai. It was established in 1932, the fourth airport facility after Juhu (Mumbai), Safdarjung (Delhi), Karachi, established as Royal Travancore Air Club as the Consort Prince- HH G. V. Raja (H.H The Queen’s husband) was quiet interested in flying and decided to start his own flying club to learn civil aviation.That year, JRD Tata started his airline- the famous Tata Air Services which started its first flight between Karachi to Mumbai, that impressed Travancore Govt and the Maharaja personally sent a mail to JRD Tata to consider flying to Trivandrum. So immediately JRD Tata made India’s first longest flight connecting Bombay to Trivandrum carrying mails meant for Royal Anchal (Travancore Post services). Also in 1935, Tata launched first commercial operations connecting Bombay to Trivandrum via Kannur (that time there was a small airport in Kannur), making it the first scheduled Domestic service in India (prior to that, all airline operations of Tata were Royal Air Mail services). This lead conversion of a small flying club to proper airport and Travancore Govt funded to make it into a proper airport, making it the first airport among Native Princely states of India (Kannur was then part of British India and no airport facility, rather just an airfield).The old ads of Tata Airlines (Air India) prior to 1947 highlighting its longest domestic flight in the countryTravancore govt acquired land for runway as well as bldg etc (there was an issue in Land that time, as aircrafts were prohibited to fly over Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple due to local traditions, so runway was constructed in such a way that air planes can bypass the city core when flying into Trivandrum). However the runway passes thro’ the royal road where the Lord’s Arattu (religious procession) would pass to reach the beach shore, but it was decided to halt all flight operations only on the Arattu days for the procession to use the traditional route (a tradition strictly followed today too). British Govt in Delhi didn’t spend a penny to fund this airport as Travancore wasn’t part of British India then.When Travancore merged with Indian Union in 1949, the airport land was handed over to the provincial state of Travancore-Cochin Govt. When Indian constitution was made in 1950, Civil Aviation became a Central Subject, hence the TC Govt handed over the airport and its land to Central Govt just like any other airports in the country.Now originally the airport land was limited airfield as it was located in thickly populated fishermen colony area (just close to Shankumugham Beach), which was okay for the aircrafts of 1940s-50s era. However when Jet flights came and much larger aircrafts started coming, the runway became insufficient and some more land were acquired by Kerala Govt and handed over to Central Govt to expand the runway. However the big push came in 1970s when Gulf migration started and people started migrating to Gulf countries in big way. In that era, India allowed international flights only from 4 airports- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta. However as Malayalees started migrating to ME in larger numbers, state owned Air India started limited flights from Trivandrum to Sharjah and Riyadh via Mumbai towards end of 1970s. However soon these international flights became so lucrative for Air India. However due to presence of many Bombay based lobbies, the limited flights from Trivandrum to Gulf countries ceased by 1983, which caused a huge resentment among NRK community. Air India cited lack of runway space for larger flights as a reason and Kerala Govt responded by additional land acquisition on priority basis in 1985. The proactive approach of Kerala Govt addressing NRK concerns and apathy shown by AI in delaying direct flights, lead to a huge protests among NRK community and in 1987, there were intense protests in Bombay airport (where Malayalee Passengers arriving from Gulf would sit in the runway to disrupt flight operations) seeking Govt of India to grant direct International flights to Trivandrum.This finally forced India Govt to grant special permissions to allow direct International flights along with limited foreign flights (Air Lanka, Air Maldives and Gulf Air started towards end of 1980s along with Indian Airlines connecting to many Gulf countries. In meantime, IAAI also extended the runway to facililate much larger flights. And finally in 1991, Trivandrum became the first Non-Metro International Airport of India and the 5th International airport after Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkatta. Ever since regular international flights both by domestic and foreign carriers started.In this time, there was huge protests for second airport in Kerala, which lead birth of Calicut Airport in 1992, where NRIs crowd-funded for an airport which AAI built it. And that also lead to demand for third airport- Kochi, which was functioning inside Navy’s INS Garuda Airport. But India Govt didn’t agree for a third airport citing no funds and Kerala Govt said that it can build its own airport in Kochi, if central govt gives permission. And with such a permission, Kerala Govt started embarking on a project inspired from Calicut experience of NRK crowdfunding, but eventually it lead to birth of CIAL (Cochin International Airport Limited), India’s first Public-Private Participation model airport. in 1999. Infact prior to CIAL, there was no such concept of PPP in aviation sector or most of the sectors in India. CIAL also became India’s first airport outside Govt of India’s ownership (outside AAI’s control) and the model was also unique. It was basically a permanent JV between Govt of Kerala, Banks and Private entrepreneurs as well as private individuals, not the concessionaire system as you find later PPP models like Bangalore or Delhi etc.And CIAL model worked. It became THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PPP story in Kerala and became a sort of template for Kerala Govt. This also later gave birth to another entity- the Kannur International Airport Limited- KIAL which also functions same way as CIAL.And this also lead to policy concept difference between Kerala and Central govt over the concept of PPP. According to Kerala, PPP is a permanent JV between State and Private party where state will also have an active role in day-to-day activities. In short, Kerala’s concept of PPP is state and private individuals forming a company and that company managing the facility. This is called JV model or BOO model (Build-Own-Operate)On the contrary Central Govt’s PPP concept is different. Central Govt proposes to give away a sector to a Private concessionaire who will own/manage/develop a facility for a certain period and give back to Center upon expiry of the term. This is called Concessionaire model which has multiple variants like BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) or DBFOT (Design, Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer) or BOLT (Build-Operate-Lease-Transfer model) or LDOT model (Lease-Design-Operate-Transfer).The last 3 models, ie DBFOT, BOLT and LDOT models are common for private airports in India (barring CIAL and KIAL).These models are opposed by Kerala Govt in general (not very strongly, but more commonly). Kerala Govt and society enlarge isn’t supportive for pure private enterprise culture, due to the adherence of Left-Socialist values in the society. Even though the society accepts that private entrepreneurs drives better growth, the society equally highlights the negative side of animalistic spirits of entrepreneurs which may harm larger social interests. So the public opinion is more towards PPP where govt equally have a role to play to control. Also there was a consensus among both alliances that, new projects can be in DBFOT/BOOT models considering the fact that Kerala Govt donot have enough money to invest and take a controlling stake, while existing entities if to privatize must be made in JV model only, with Govt having a major stake.Kerala’s experience with concessionaire system was always negative as concessionaire companies are always aimed to make maximum revenue within shortest period of time. So concessionaire models in NH development always ends up as a social issue in Kerala with numerous protests regularly happening at Thrissur Toll gate citing day light robbery in name of tolls. So as the first BOT project- the BOT Thommumpady Bridge in Kochi also became the biggest battle ground between citizens and the BOT Company citing excessive tolls. Due to all these, the social attitude where a private operator controls a govt facility for a specific period is always frowned upon.On the contrary there is a huge positive attitude towards JV approach where Kerala Govt holds a stake and huge voice within the directorial board in every major decision. CIAL is the best example for that as technically its a private airport with majority being private investment, but controlled by Govt (thro’ govt appointed MD). Since Kerala Govt has a huge voice in the directorial board, the accountability factor of govt towards public is equally protected. Another similar example is the Technopark-Infopark model where Kerala Govt owned IT Parks owns land and invite private entities to invest as co-developers instead of doing directly.In every way, Kerala society demands govt active participation in business entities. Thats why Kerala Govt is virtually present every sphere of Keralan Life from running grocery shops to airports.Now specific to TVM issueTrivandrum airport is owned by Govt of India under AAI, which runs in very typical Sarkari fashion. Despite of being the oldest airport in the state and one of the oldest in the country, hardly any major upgrades or facilities exist in the terminal. This becomes more severe when we compare Trivandrum Airport with Cochin or recently with Kannur, as latter are private airports under Kerala Govt.Over last one decade, Kerala Govt was actively pursuing the idea of take over remaining two airports (Trivandrum and Kozhikode) under its control. Govt has made enough lobbying with central govts to take over these airport after successful experience of managing CIAL and now KIAL. The govt actively pushed for closure of current Karipur airport (Kozhikode) by shifting the facility to Thiruvambady where a greenfield airport can be constructed for Kozhikode under CIAL model. However it didn’t work out much.Demand for airport at Thiruvambady hots upNew airport in Kozhikode: Govt orders feasibility studyIn terms of Trivandrum, the govt donot wanted the airport to shift from its current location as being the only airport in the state located within the Central business district or inside the downtown which is heavily patronized by govt officials, ministers, politicians etc apart from other passenger base.And that exactly is the problem with TRV. Trivandrum airport being its location inside the city, is always constrained by the space. Hardly there is any room for any expansion. And Kerala Govt knows that, its chance to take over TRV exists over this bargain chip, ie Land.In 2005, Central Govt requested Kerala govt for additional 50 acres of land for expansion as the airport terminals were reaching its saturation point. With no scope of acquiring land in the old terminal side (Shankumugham beach area), Kerala govt somehow acquired 23 acres of land in the opposite side (Chakka area) which is closer to NH 66 at a very premium price. But Kerala govt prior to handover made a demand to make the state as joint owner of Trivandrum airport, which then the central govt didn’t comply as there was no provision under AAI Act to have a state or any other party as co-owner in an AAI facility. But the then Manmohan Singh Govt made a public assurance that, in event of privatization or similar, the state will be given a stake in the SPV to be formed in lieu of the value of the land which the state has acquired for. And in this land, AAI constructed the current T2 facility meant for international travellers.Untill 2017, there was no active proposals of privatization of TRV airport and whenever any proposal comes, Kerala Govt used to make a claim as they believed they have a right to claim so for the land they provided twice which was acquired a very premium rate ( being inside the city center and the airport area is thickly populated zone). In meantime, even the current facility reached its saturation stage and urgently require minimum 18 Acres to expand both terminal and parallel taxiway.However the families around the airport were resisting any sort of acquisitions. In this context, Kerala Govt officially wrote to Central govt, if to provide any additional land, they must have a controlling stake in TRV airport as a company, where they can implement CIAL model.CIAL ModelIn CIAL land acquisition stage, there was heavy public opposition as the land was again a premium factor in Kerala. CIAL overcame thro’ innovative means, ie by announcing a wholesome very attractive compensation package.Announcing govt guaranteed jobs within CIAL to all families who lose the land. This means, every family who gave land to CIAL will get assured jobs within CIAL for minimum of 3 generations in accordance to one’s qualifications. This means any direct member of the victim family has the first right to claim for any job within CIAL from CEO to a peon position in accordance to vacancy and qualification. This sort of reservation was first of its kind in a corporate sector and since GOK has an active stake in CIAL, the govt guaranteed that CIAL will uphold this promise perpetually.Those families who lost their livelihood due to airport project in CIAL will be given a taxi car and badge to become official airport taxi driver. CIAL formed its own Taxi company- the CATS (Cochin Airport Taxi Society) where taxi drivers and CIAL have equal stake and CIAL will procure modern cars and provide to the taxi drivers at No-Interest basis (only principal amount need to pay back). They also have monopoly to take passengers from the airportCIAL assured to all erstwhile landowners that the company will provide subsidized utilities as part of its CSR to them and in last 20 years they kept the promise as CIAL provides subsidized electricity, water and even education to people of Nedumbassery locality (where the airport is located).CIAL also provided plots to those families whose houses were acquired in process of airport temple and constructed a colony for them- Vimana-nagaram or Airport city close to the airport gates as well as tied up with Federal Bank and Hudco to provide home loans at subsidized interest rates.These all measures are independent of standard GOK compensation. This was possible because CIAL was an autonomous company and can make such offers that GOK can’t do directly as latter is bound by rules and procedures.Due to this factor, LA was pretty easy in CIAL as most of the landowners can’t refuse such huge offers. This same model was used in Kannur airport project too.Kerala govt’s stand is that, to acquire more land in TRV, they need CIAL/KIAL model where the company has to assure the locality of these benefits, so that they will give up the land. Its impossible for Kerala Govt to pay ridiculous/astronomical land prices (market value). Thats why Kerala Govt press for its stake in Trivandrum airport, so that it can use that to give offers indirectly and procure land.However, there was no positive response from Central Govt on that in 2017.But instead the GOI came up with open tendering in 2018 for privatizing TRV under LDO model. However the biggest game changer was GOI modified the terms.In standard privatization model, it was more of fixed lease value to be paid to AAI during the concession period as done in Mumbai or Delhi models. But in the new plan, GOI made it per passenger based revenue sharing model, ie an amount to be paid AAI depending upon passengers patronizing it which was highly unusual. And also the clause of previous experience in Airport construction and management was removed. This lead to allegation that, these changes were made to help those cronies which were closely associated with NDA govt.Kerala govt objected to Trivandrum’s Privatization as such, rather claimed that center must handover the airport to State lead SPV directly (with a central stake too) and there is no need of tendering, if its an inter-govt transfer. But centre didn’t agree and after intense lobbying, central govt allowed State to participate in the tendering process and gave First rights of refusal (if within 10% range).Kerala govt also formed a SPV- TIAL and flouted a global tender for a private investor which brought Frankfurt Airport and some other companies into potential partnership. However many sources clearly indicate that GOI has pre-fixed Adani for gaining these airports, thus most of the companies which were supposed to form TIAL were doubtful to invest. So the condition was, let Kerala Govt alone procure the operational rights for Trivandrum and once it gains, TIAL will be formed with other partners.Trivandrum international airport: Going gets tough for state bid11 companies evince interest in Trivandrum airportWhen tenders were opened Adani became the highest quoting a ridiculous figure of Rs 168 per passenger (to be paid to AAI), while KSIDC (representing the GOK) quoted Rs 135 per passenger, whereas most of other established players like GMR etc quoting less than 100.This means, Adani has to get back atleast double the amount, if they have to pay 168 Rs to AAI per passenger, which means the passenger expenditure at TRV will be of ridiculous level.And interesting, ADANI quoted similar ridiculous extraordinary pricing for all other airports that went for bidding. This has pushed Kerala Govt to reassure that its a pre-fixated deal between Modi govt and Adani (as everyone in India knows both Modi is closely associated with Adani) and the govt refused to accept it. It became a huge issue with entire Airport staff (including BJP’s own unions inside the airport) opposing Adani to take over the airport and interestingly every party including BJP Kerala officially opposing it. Moreover it was in Jan 2019 which was prior to elections of 2019 and BJP can’t antagonize ordinary people in Trivandrum with the image of selling national properties for Adani (as there was a chance for BJP to win from Trivandrum). So that time, many BJP leaders from Kerala went and met Suresh Prabhu (the-then Civil Aviation minister) seeking to reconsider the tender decision for TRV. Pinarayi Vijayan also met Modi to reconsider and even offered him the same price which Adani is offering (Rs 168) to get the airport under GOK control.BJP Trivandrum District President- Adv S Suresh launching the protest meet lead by BMS Airport Trade union to protest against Adani taking over Airport in Jan 2019.V Muraleedharan in 2018 wrote a detailed FB post the importance of keeping TRV under state control and not to hand over to Adani or any private entrepreneurs. The same Muraleendaran supporting privatization nowThus this became a prestige issue for Kerala Govt and the state govt said, in no manner it will allow the state’s premier airport to go to Adani. As per Pinarayi Vijayan and many other ministers, they got an assurances from Modi that, final decision will be made only after taking the state in full confidence.A case was filed by GOK in Kerala High Court against this (the original case was dismissed by High Court, but restored by Supreme Court of India and now in front of HC about the validity of Adani’s tendering to the airport).In 2020, the current Civil Aviation Minister made an assurance to Parilament that no decision was made over Trivandrum’s privatization as the matter is sub-judice now.And contrary to the Minister’s claim, last day, Central govt cleared Adani’s right to hold all the 6 airports, despite of the fact, the airport issue is still pending before Kerala High court.This once again re-ignited the matter and Kerala Govt vowed, it will NOT cooperate with the decision. If Kerala Govt refuse to cooperate, then the whole TRV airport will be jeopardized as it has reached its saturation point and without land acquisition, the airport operations will be severely affected.Further the airport has issue with road access to its facility from the highway and Kerala Govt can effectively block plans of new flyover/ramps etc which will complicate passenger convenience to the facility. In addition, the airport unions (including BJP ones) are opposed to the Adani, which means they can easily lockdown the airport operations effectively.Pinarayi’s letter to PM Modi after the all Party meet announcing absolute non-cooperation for any private party take over in TRV and request for reconsideration of leasing to AdaniAlready the people around the airport announced, they will not give up their land for land acquisitions if Adani takes over the airport (as they won’t get CIAL like benefits) and if state govt halts any land acquisition process, it means every expansion plans will stop.Land owners to back out of offerAs of now, every political party in Kerala barring BJP is opposed Adani taking over Trivandrum airport and the govt of Kerala got a consent from all opposition parties for any harsh steps to prevent Adani taking over airport. As state elections are approaching, this shall likely to be a major political issue too in Trivandrum as privatizing a national property like TRV has created a sense of distrust element. For traditional Trivandrumites, the airport is seen as Sree Padmanabha’s property as the airport is situated the lord’s procession road and handing over his property to an outsider also invokes negative feeling against BJP (they are trying to reduce that anger by making a counter argument that CPM is trying to gain the airport to prevent Sree Padmanabha’s annual processions to enter into the facility).Overall, among the commoners of Trivandrum, this became a huge issue and LDF sees its a potential tool to outsmart growing fortunes of BJP in Trivandrum district.Pinarayi dares Modi to send Adani. But can Kerala seriously defy Centre's airport authority?State cooperation necessary to run TVM airport smoothly: Pinarayi during all-party meetThe other side of the storyAs I mentioned, it has both political and social factors for Kerala Govt to oppose.But there is also a group of supporters to Adani’s take over apart from hardcore BJP cadres (who support just out of political compulsions). These supporters are mostly young Techie community of Technopark as well as group of Trivandrum based entrepreneurs and investors.For a long time, they were pained seeing the pathetic state of Trivandrum airport under AAI and their pains increase when they see how Cochin Airport is progressing rapidly. So they want privatization of the airport at any cost. In South India, almost all capital cities (Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai to some extend) has world class airports, but Trivandrum ended up with a shit-hole like TRV airport only because of AAI. So they believe, only a private entrepreneur can change fortunes of their city.And current Trivandrum MP Shashi Tharoor is an active supporter of this group. He along with this community were launching many initiatives to make Trivandrum, a city equal to Bangalore or Hyderabad. One of their famous campaigns is #MoveToTrivandrum highlights their passion to make their city great. The upcoming Vizhinjam Seaport is one great hope for this community to see Trivandrum moving out of its traditional laid back attitude and becoming a major commercial city (Trivandrum since its inception was always an administrative city and never had anything of commercial city status in past)As Vizhinjam Seaport is built by Adani group, in partnership with GOK (GOK has a policy that they allow concessionaires for new projects), this community believes, if airport also comes under Adani, it creates a huge synergy.Shashi Tharoor in 2019, made it clear to public, he will support any private investor- X Y or Z as long as Trivandrum airport is privatized. So even now, he repeat his stance, he supports TRV’s privatization irrespective what KPCC says. He said, while he don’t support Adani’s ridiculous pricing, he says he sees no other alternative for TRV at the momentTharoor’s interview in 2019 that he will support any private investor to take over TrivandrumMost of the supporters are technocrats/business investors from TRV feels, TRV is no where in the aviation race when compared to Kochi or even the much recent Kannur, only because its under AAI. And they want Adani to invest as it shall be a clear success story (because central govt will do any extend to support Adani’s business) which will help Trivandrum to grow more better, projecting these success stories.Apart from this, they fear, the hard attitude of the state against Adani may send wrong signals that state is opposed to private entrepreneurs (in reality its not, as state itself is trying to bring international players). The argument is simple. If there is a pure Private player without state stake, many in Trivandrum aspire their airport may be of league of BLR or BOM or HYD or DEL where GMR/GVK invested so much and made radical changes unlike CIAL model which is always known as Common Man’s Airport etc with lesser investment. The show-off factor values so much in Trivandrum social culture, so an ultra huge-gold plated airport definitely has a boasting value as one sees in BOM or HYD etc.Regulator looks into airport cost inflationAnd thats the exact point where Kerala Govt and others oppose. They feel, just like how GMR/GVK gold plated their private airports for charging so much from the passengers, the same will be done in TRV too.Kerala air passengers traditionally NRKs who were mostly middle class or lower class strata. For them affordability matters a lot, rather than paying premium for airport facilities. Its for this reason, the Users Fee in airport is always a controversial subject in Kerala.If one looks, CIAL was the first airport in the country to bring the concept of Users Fee way back in 2000. But it also became the first airport in the country to ROLL BACK the Users fee concept in 2006 as public was opposed paying huge amount to use a facility. Today CIAL remains the only private airport in India without an user fee (BLR charges 308 Rs while untill recently HYD used to charge 1700 Rs)Bengaluru airport hikes user fee by a massive 120%This is Not the Way to Privatise AirportsKerala Govt fears that if a private operator like Adani, by quoting such ridiculous pricing, ends up huge user fee in TRV, it shall be a major issue for Kerala society. Unlike other states where airports were seen more as a Middle class/upper class facility, in Kerala, airports are always part of every class in the society and affordability of airport is a key political topic too.So both sides have equal points to highlight and argue. The final result, probably only time can tell.In my opinion, I would choose CIAL/KIAL model anyday as Kerala society is not same as Gujarat society or Karnataka society etc. We cannot accept a full fledged private investment without state control/stake etc and in event of so, it shall be a perfect recipe for failure. I don’t wish to see bad stories from Kerala’s civil aviation.Why Kerala is up in arms over Adani Group bagging bid to run Trivandrum airportAdani Group may have to wait to take over Thiruvananthapuram airportTough road ahead for Adani to take over Trivandrum airportCPM to send two lakh emails to PM Modi opposing Thiruvananthapuram airport privatisation

Faith is an interesting word. If you translate it into hindi, its negative connotation is ‘Bhakti’(devotion). So No, i am NOT his bhakt!. Its positive connotation is ‘confidence’, ‘admiration’ and So i admire him. I have confidence in him and his abilities to challenge and change the system.My admiration in him began with the Janlokpal movement, although i knew about him earlier for his contributions to the Right To Information Act.During his 49 day government my admiration grew , more so, when he on principles, resigned from the cabinet!. Never heard before!This is what he achieved in that 49 day government when he had more freedom than he has today.Dec 28: Nine officials transferred, red beacons banned.Jan 15: Govt says will remove Millennium Depot from Yamuna riverbed.Jan 18: CM requests L-G to replace fi ve senior ACB offi cials.Jan 23: Eight senior Delhi government offi cials transferred.Jan 28: CAG audit of DIMTS (it operates the BRT in Delhi) ordered.Jan 29: Govt seeks SIT probe into 1984 anti-Sikh riots.Feb 2: Govt plans to do away with MLA fund.Feb 3: Cabinet clears Delhi Lokpal Bill.Feb 4: Kejriwal promises to include Northeast history in school texts.Feb 9: Govt plans to scrap the Bhagidari scheme.Feb 12: Cabinet approves decision to hold special assembly session in a stadium.Feb 13: Govt fails to table Jan Lokpal Bill in assembly, blames BJP and Cong for disruption.The highlighted achievement was the closest to my heart.No - I am not love struck. I dislike his ‘over the top’ comments on everything and anything. He does annoy with his tweets. He has not been able to keep his house in order . Granted, It is tough with current bunch of leaders in AAP , where everyone wants to be a king. His selection of leaders has not been great either.But,When in doubt, i ask my self a simple question.If not Aam Aadmi Party/Arvind then Who?.Source: What Kejriwal's govt achieved in its 49 days

Aluva (earlier Alwaye) is the closest Metro Station to Kochi (COK) Nedumbassery Airport managed by CIAL.Volvo low-floor elderly friendly buses by Kerala Road Transport Corporation apart from Prepaid taxi and autorickshaws frequently ply between these 2 locations which are 11 kms apart and can be covered in 15 to 20 minutes.