Sharad smells a scam in airport privatisation
12 Nov 2013 12:14 AM GMT
JD (U) president Sharad Yadav has claimed the move by the aviation ministry to privatise six international airports smacks of dishonesty and deception. Seeking immediate stoppage of the process, Yadav said that ‘undue haste’ was being shown to benefit ‘pre-determined parties.’
The senior parliamentarian shot off a letter to PM Manmohan Singh saying ‘undue haste (was) being shown in the whole process’ of privatising these AAI-developed airports, including those at Chennai and Kolkata. His letter comes in the wake of reports that a parliamentary committee has also opposed the privatisation move and recommended the AAI should itself award management contracts to entities having expertise in the field.
‘From the process, it appears that this whole exercise is probably being undertaken to help pre-determined parties as no new parties can complete the process in such a short time and submit their bids,’ Yadav said. He also alleged the privatisation process was being undertaken at ‘the behest of planning commission inter-ministerial committee chairman with the guidance of Montek Singh Ahluwalia.’ Yadav said he failed ‘to understand why tenders for retail, parking, food and beverages, duty free are being fast-tracked by AAI when it is in their mind that the airports are to be privatised.’
The senior parliamentarian shot off a letter to PM Manmohan Singh saying ‘undue haste (was) being shown in the whole process’ of privatising these AAI-developed airports, including those at Chennai and Kolkata. His letter comes in the wake of reports that a parliamentary committee has also opposed the privatisation move and recommended the AAI should itself award management contracts to entities having expertise in the field.
‘From the process, it appears that this whole exercise is probably being undertaken to help pre-determined parties as no new parties can complete the process in such a short time and submit their bids,’ Yadav said. He also alleged the privatisation process was being undertaken at ‘the behest of planning commission inter-ministerial committee chairman with the guidance of Montek Singh Ahluwalia.’ Yadav said he failed ‘to understand why tenders for retail, parking, food and beverages, duty free are being fast-tracked by AAI when it is in their mind that the airports are to be privatised.’
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