Date:06/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/06/stories/2008030650030100.htm

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Parliamentary Committee against closure of Begumpet airport, tables report

Parul Sharma

GMR group to ‘opt for legal recourse’ if commitment not honoured

HYDERABAD: Even as a Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday asked the Union government to renegotiate agreements with private parties developing Greenfield airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the GMR group that is building the Hyderabad airport said “it could opt for a legal recourse” in case the commitment was not honoured.

The Committee in its report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday has recommended “unanimously and unequivocally” to the Union government that the existing Begumpet and Bangalore airports should not be closed for commercial operations once the Greenfield airports are in place.

GMR Chairman (Airports) Kiran Kumar Grandhi on Tuesday had sought to allay fears of a team of journalists from Delhi on a visit to the site of the upcoming Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport that will be inaugurated on March 14 by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

“It is still two weeks away… the Cabinet had decided to close the Begumpet airport and invited the bids. The Government has also said so. We have been assured of all assistance. There are a number of recourses in case there’s a problem. First is, of course, consultation, in the worst-case scenario, we will go to the courts,” he said when asked on what action the group would take if the Government decided to keep the existing airport at Begumpet functional even after the new Greenfield airport at Shamshabad.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) was formed to design, finance, build, operate and maintain an international airport in about 5,500 acres in Shamshabad, located 25 km from Hyderabad.

The existing Begumpet airport was supposed to be closed down under a pre-development agreement between GHIAL and the Government, a move being opposed by workers’ unions and political parties.

Addressing a press conference at his site office, Mr. Grandhi also argued that it would not be economically feasible to run two airports

“If you have to split the traffic, you would not be able to move to the next step. If you keep Begumpet for domestic and Shamshabad for international, that would not work,” he said.