MADC gets 380 hectares from the AAI
Like every other major project in the country this one too was entangled in various issues related to land acquisition, compensation and political egos.
By Abhiram Ghadyalpatil, TNN |
MUMBAI: Like every other major project in the country this one too was entangled in various issues related to land acquisition, compensation and political egos. But all is well that ends well, and it’s better late than never. The whole of Maharashtra heaved a sigh of relief when the Union cabinet on Thursday cleared the biggest bottleneck in the way of the Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), a good 10 years after it was conceived.
The cabinet has decided to transfer 380 hectares from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), the nodal agency for the Rs 5,000 crore project. The MADC was insisting that it cannot go ahead with the project unless it gets control of the 380 hectares, where the runway and the terminal would be. AAI was reluctant give up ownership, though it is a partner in the project.
The move is also seen as a setback for Union aviation minister Praful Patel, who is accused of stalling the project by delaying the transfer of land. It was a battle of one-upmanship between Mr Patel and Congressman and Union minister for renewable energy Vilas Muttemwar, as both of them were ‘Nagpurkars’.
But it doesn’t matter who won or who lost, for, ultimately, the state is the winner. “The project means a lot not only for Nagpur, but for the entire region of Vidarbha. It would put Nagpur on the radar of international trade and unlock the economic potential of the region,” says RC Sinha, the dynamic 69-year-old vice-chairman and managing director of MADC. Mr Sinha, an illustrious bureaucrat, was assigned the job post-retirement.
Mr Sinha is not the only person smiling. There are many others who have put in a lot of effort to take the project forward. Prominent among them are state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar, and state secretary for special projects Sanjay Ubale.
“The Union government’s decision is undoubtedly a great boost to MIHAN. That’s exactly what the Maharashtra government has been asking for since it signed the MoU with the AAI around a year back to facilitate transfer of Nagpur airport assets to MADC. With this, the last bottleneck is being cleared, we look forward to taking up the next step of airport modernisation soon,” Mr Ubale told ET.
Some political sources would like to give the full credit to the state Congress leadership. “Mr Deshmukh and Mr Muttemwar have to be credited with the win-win formula that has been worked out at the Union government level. The government has not only removed the last hurdle in MIHAN’s way, but also helped the MADC get enormous financial and administrative control over the project as compared to the AAI,” a political source, who requested anonymity, told ET.
As per the formula, the AAI has to hand over Nagpur airport to MADC within three months, and a four-member committee under cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar will undertake a valuation of assets to work out a new shareholding formula between MADC and AAI.
The MoU that was signed in 2006 gave 51% stake to MADC and 49% to AAI. The MADC believes AAI was given 49% stake without a realistic asset valuation. “It was at the behest of aviation minister Praful Patel that the AAI was given 49%. Actually, it does not own more than 25% of the entire assets. The proposed asset valuation will take into account the fact that the AAI has control of over 350 hectares of land while the MADC has more than 950 hectares,” said an MADC source.
“An evaluation of assets will leave MADC with more than 75% of stake in the JV, and virtually make it the sole authority. The AAI will have control only over air traffic control and security,” said he.
Politically speaking, the Union government’s decision is a setback for Mr Patel, who was seen as stalling the transfer of AAI assets to MADC. In fact, the Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VEDC) recently filed a petition before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court seeking directions to the AAI to hand over the airport. “The purpose of our PIL has been served,” VEDC chairman Vilas Kale told ET.
According to sources, Mr Patel was vying with Mr Muttemwar for taking credit for the project. Even Mr Deshmukh had to put pressure on AAI to hand over the assets. “The Congress seems to have pulled it off this time. After Mr Muttemwar and Mr Deshmukh shepherded the proposal, it was finance minister P Chidambaram who decided that an asset evaluation had to be carried out,” a political source said.
The cabinet has decided to transfer 380 hectares from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), the nodal agency for the Rs 5,000 crore project. The MADC was insisting that it cannot go ahead with the project unless it gets control of the 380 hectares, where the runway and the terminal would be. AAI was reluctant give up ownership, though it is a partner in the project.
The move is also seen as a setback for Union aviation minister Praful Patel, who is accused of stalling the project by delaying the transfer of land. It was a battle of one-upmanship between Mr Patel and Congressman and Union minister for renewable energy Vilas Muttemwar, as both of them were ‘Nagpurkars’.
But it doesn’t matter who won or who lost, for, ultimately, the state is the winner. “The project means a lot not only for Nagpur, but for the entire region of Vidarbha. It would put Nagpur on the radar of international trade and unlock the economic potential of the region,” says RC Sinha, the dynamic 69-year-old vice-chairman and managing director of MADC. Mr Sinha, an illustrious bureaucrat, was assigned the job post-retirement.
Mr Sinha is not the only person smiling. There are many others who have put in a lot of effort to take the project forward. Prominent among them are state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar, and state secretary for special projects Sanjay Ubale.
“The Union government’s decision is undoubtedly a great boost to MIHAN. That’s exactly what the Maharashtra government has been asking for since it signed the MoU with the AAI around a year back to facilitate transfer of Nagpur airport assets to MADC. With this, the last bottleneck is being cleared, we look forward to taking up the next step of airport modernisation soon,” Mr Ubale told ET.
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Some political sources would like to give the full credit to the state Congress leadership. “Mr Deshmukh and Mr Muttemwar have to be credited with the win-win formula that has been worked out at the Union government level. The government has not only removed the last hurdle in MIHAN’s way, but also helped the MADC get enormous financial and administrative control over the project as compared to the AAI,” a political source, who requested anonymity, told ET.
As per the formula, the AAI has to hand over Nagpur airport to MADC within three months, and a four-member committee under cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar will undertake a valuation of assets to work out a new shareholding formula between MADC and AAI.
The MoU that was signed in 2006 gave 51% stake to MADC and 49% to AAI. The MADC believes AAI was given 49% stake without a realistic asset valuation. “It was at the behest of aviation minister Praful Patel that the AAI was given 49%. Actually, it does not own more than 25% of the entire assets. The proposed asset valuation will take into account the fact that the AAI has control of over 350 hectares of land while the MADC has more than 950 hectares,” said an MADC source.
“An evaluation of assets will leave MADC with more than 75% of stake in the JV, and virtually make it the sole authority. The AAI will have control only over air traffic control and security,” said he.
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Politically speaking, the Union government’s decision is a setback for Mr Patel, who was seen as stalling the transfer of AAI assets to MADC. In fact, the Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VEDC) recently filed a petition before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court seeking directions to the AAI to hand over the airport. “The purpose of our PIL has been served,” VEDC chairman Vilas Kale told ET.
According to sources, Mr Patel was vying with Mr Muttemwar for taking credit for the project. Even Mr Deshmukh had to put pressure on AAI to hand over the assets. “The Congress seems to have pulled it off this time. After Mr Muttemwar and Mr Deshmukh shepherded the proposal, it was finance minister P Chidambaram who decided that an asset evaluation had to be carried out,” a political source said.
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