GMR agrees on midnight handover of Male Airport
8 Dec 2012 7:24 AM IST
The Maldives government was poised to take over Male International Airport, with GMR agreeing to meet the midnight deadline to hand over operations after the Indian infrastructure major lost a week-long legal battle. ‘MACL will officially take over the operations of the airport at midnight. A handing over ceremony would be held at 11:45 pm at the airport here,’ President Mohamed Waheed’s Press Secretary Masood Imad said. He said that there would be a three-week transition process during which GMR and state-run Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) will work together.
‘It is going to be a seamless transfer. From Saturday onwards, the operations of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport will be undertaken by MACL once again. GMR has agreed to work with MACL for the next three weeks or so to help MACL with paper work and to clear any doubts since the Indian firm was operating the airport for the last two years,’ Imad added.
Terminating the $511-million contract with GMR on November 27, the Maldivian government had given time till Friday night to the Bengaluru-based firm to handover the airport operations.
The handover will take place a day after the Singapore Supreme Court ruled that the Maldives government has the ‘power to do what its wants including expropriating the airport,’ dealing a severe blow to GMR which had earlier got a temporary reprieve, with the Singapore High Court staying the termination.
‘In deference to the orders of the Singapore Court of Appeals, GMR Male International Airport Ltd (GMIAL) will facilitate a smooth takeover of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport (INIA) by the Maldives Airport Company Ltd (MACL) effective midnight Friday,’ GMR said in a statement.
The contentious issue saw various twists and turns both on legal and diplomatic fronts, with India expressing strong displeasure over the ‘unilateral’ decision of termination and had conveyed that the move will have an adverse impact on the bilateral ties.
It was in 2010 that the GMR-led consortium won the right to build and operate Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) for 25 years, which is extendable by another 10 years. The agreement had been signed during the regime of the previous government, headed by Mohamed Nasheed.
‘It is going to be a seamless transfer. From Saturday onwards, the operations of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport will be undertaken by MACL once again. GMR has agreed to work with MACL for the next three weeks or so to help MACL with paper work and to clear any doubts since the Indian firm was operating the airport for the last two years,’ Imad added.
Terminating the $511-million contract with GMR on November 27, the Maldivian government had given time till Friday night to the Bengaluru-based firm to handover the airport operations.
The handover will take place a day after the Singapore Supreme Court ruled that the Maldives government has the ‘power to do what its wants including expropriating the airport,’ dealing a severe blow to GMR which had earlier got a temporary reprieve, with the Singapore High Court staying the termination.
‘In deference to the orders of the Singapore Court of Appeals, GMR Male International Airport Ltd (GMIAL) will facilitate a smooth takeover of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport (INIA) by the Maldives Airport Company Ltd (MACL) effective midnight Friday,’ GMR said in a statement.
The contentious issue saw various twists and turns both on legal and diplomatic fronts, with India expressing strong displeasure over the ‘unilateral’ decision of termination and had conveyed that the move will have an adverse impact on the bilateral ties.
It was in 2010 that the GMR-led consortium won the right to build and operate Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) for 25 years, which is extendable by another 10 years. The agreement had been signed during the regime of the previous government, headed by Mohamed Nasheed.
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