The Kerala High Court has dismissed the state government's plea against leasing the Thiruvanthapuram International Airport to the Adani Group, CNBC-TV18 reported.
The Kerala government had challenged the Centre's decision to let Adani Enterprises operate, manage and develop the airport for 50 years.
Adani won the rights to run five other airports—Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru and Guwahati—through the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) awarded the lease to Adani in February 2019. The Kerala State Industries Development Corporation (KSIDC) had offered the second-highest bid for the airport.
After the Union cabinet approved the lease in August 2020, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Vijayan said the move was "against the wishes of people" and "it will be difficult for Kerala to offer cooperation for implementation of decision".
Kerala assembly had on August 24 unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to reconsider the decision.
"Thiruvananthapuram airport privatised to Adani rejecting the claim of Kerala government, even after offer to match Adani’s rate. PMO's promise to accept Kerala proposal broken. People of Kerala will not accept this act of brazen cronyism," Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac tweeted in August.
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