The Kerala state government has raised Rs 400 crores to the Adani Ports according to the Vizhinjam agreement. This decision is taken by the state’s leftist government as the construction of the breakwater at the upcoming Vinzinjam post is underway.
According to the agreement the state government was bound to give the sum to the enterprise after the latter completes 30% of the breakwater work. The company was seeking the same from the government for the past few weeks but the state government could not honor the commitment to the port builder as the government is caught in a debt trap and the financial situation is continuously worsening. Finally, Pinarayi Vijayan’s government took a loan of Rs 400 crores from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) to abide by the agreement.
India’s one of the deepest ports will start operations of its first phase in March 2023. The project costs Rs 7525 crores out of which Rs 1635 crores was given as a grant to the Adani Ports which was the lone bidder for this port project in which the state government has put in 500 acres of land. Once completed, this port will be a station for India’s 80 percent of cargo trans-shipments.
Pinarayi Vijayan’s government had earlier opposed the Adani group
It is notable that Pinarayi Vijayan’s government had opposed the Adani Group at the time of taking over the airport operations in the state capital. The state government raising Rs 400 crores to abide by the agreement it signed with the Adani Port is thus in sharp contrast with the earlier approach of the government toward the Adani group.
It was in 2019 that the southern state witnessed a notable centre-state conflict over the issue of the privatization of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) decision to choose a private company to manage the Thiruvananthapuram airport was immediately challenged by the KSIDC in a High Court filing. It claimed that the action was not “in the public interest” in its writ suit on March 5, 2019. As a result, auction bids were invited for the process.
Pinarayi Vijayan’s government lost in the auction for Thiruvananthapuram International Airport
On June 13, 2019, the Thiruvananthapuram airport was put up for auction. Kerala government established a special purpose entity under KSIDC (Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation) named TIAL (Trivandrum International Airport Limited) to participate in the bid and requested the right of first refusal when competitive bidding was announced. TIAL was given the edge, which meant that it would win the bid even if its quotation was less than the top offer as long as the difference was less than 10%. Kerala lost because Adani’s offer was 25% more than TIAL’s. Adani had quoted a Rs 168 per passenger fee, and KSIDC Rs 135. The lowest bidder GMR, which runs the Delhi and Hyderabad airports, quoted Rs 63.
However, handing over the port to the Adani group did not come immediately. In the meanwhile, Pinarayi Vijayan and his government left no stone unturned to showcase how the Adani group handling the airport operations is against the interests of the people of Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard in 2019. In this letter, Vijayan not only voiced his disagreement but also questioned the bidding process.
In this letter, the Kerala Chief Minister wrote, “The growing public resentment would make it difficult for the state to back a private agency. The absence of a prior experience clause in the tender document was surprising. Instead, an experience in infrastructure development alone was asked for. That the Adani Group, which had no experience in airport development, had won six bids makes the entire process suspicious. Public resentment is growing against the takeover of the airport by a private company. That the same company has won the bid for six airports including Thiruvananthapuram has only intensified the anger.”
The Kerala government passed a resolution
The Kerala Assembly unanimously approved a motion on August 24, 2020, calling the Centre, in an aggressive manner, to refrain from handing over the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to the Adani Group. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who proposed the motion, said that the Centre had disregarded the Kerala government’s repeated objections to its decision to transfer control of the airport to a private company.
At this time, Pinarayi Vijayan said, “For the last two years the state has been opposing the move. I have written twice to Prime Minister Modi. Still, it was handed over to a private entity ignoring the state’s protest. The Kerala Assembly unanimously urges the Centre to reconsider its decision. Ramesh Chennithala, the leader of the opposition in the Kerala Assembly, backed the Vijayan resolution but said the state government was surreptitiously aiding Adani Enterprises.
Pinarayi Vijayan finally takes a U-turn
On 14th October 2021, the Adani group took over the airport. The arrival of Adani didn’t appear to bother either the Chief Minister or the Opposition, who had supported the Chief Minister’s adamant approach in 2020. In the 15th Kerala Assembly, there was never even a passing mention of the takeover. It appeared as though the government was just waiting for Adani to land safely before ending their protests.
Further, when it was discovered that Cyril Amarchanddas Mangaldas, the consultant the TIAL selected for the airport proposal, had close ties to the Adani Group, the government’s elevated opposition appeared hollow. Ramesh Chennithala, the then-leader of the opposition, said that this was a plot to aid the Adani group.
The Adani group was supposed to take over the airport on 18th July 2021. It later requested to extend the timeline by three months. But on 13th July 2021, that is, days before the original timeline, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the monsoon session of the Kerala assembly which was going on at that time, MLAs of the ruling party CPM asked the chief minister, “Have you discussed the need for the center to drop its move to hand over the airport to Adani, which would go against Kerala’s interests?” The chief minister answered, “Did not discuss.”
As the Kerala state’s leftist government raises money to abide by the agreement with India’s one of biggest business houses, it becomes evident to recall how it once had its own reservations against the same business group and how it gradually went on to accommodate the corporate player first in the airport and now in the Vizinjam port with its protests against Adani group turning insignificant and the enterprise takes over the operations of the port. The Adani group has constantly come under attack by political parties like Congress and even the Left. However, wherever these parties are in power, they have worked closely with the conglomerate to further the development of their respective states. For example, while Rahul Gandhi continuously attacks the Adani group, the Congress govt in multiple states has awarded several projects to the conglomerate. Essentially, this proves that the entire rhetoric against prestige business conglomerates of India by the Congress party and other political parties is just that – rhetoric, while they have also been working closely with these business houses for the development of their states.
