Won't transfer ownership of land to AAI for Coimbatore airport: PTR

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) on Friday made it clear that the state would only lease the land required for the expansion of the Coimbatore airport to the Airport Authority of India (AAI)/Union government and not transfer ownership to them.

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In response to a question on the expansion of Coimbatore airport, I noted that our state would only lease the needed land to the AAI/Union Govt, and not transfer ownership to them, as before. The lease would include a clause that the lease amount would be kept at a minimum token… pic.twitter.com/QfJucjU5rL

— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) April 21, 2023

Taking to the social media, PTR tweeted, “In response to a question on the expansion of Coimbatore airport, I noted that our state would only lease the needed land to the AAI/Union Govt, and not transfer ownership to them, as before. The lease would include a clause that the lease amount would be kept at a minimum token value as long as the airport was operated by AAI itself. If the Union Govt decides to hand over the airport to private players, the lease payments to Tamil Nadu would go up to reflect the then-prevailing market value of the land, or we should get an equity stake in the airport equivalent to the then-prevailing value of the land. And that TN has declined AAI’s suggestion that they should have the right to sub-lease the land to a private operator (at the concessional lease rent) without our consent (and at the token value lease payment).”