International airport runs into trouble (yet) again

Red-tape blues: Devanahalli airport on collision course
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The Rs 1,150-crore Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli has run into twin road-blocks of a very serious nature: the coalition government wants to “rework” the project and one of the promoters wants to pull out, if the red-tape is not slashed.

After the long-drawnout concessions agreement in New Delhi, two state-level agreements — on state support to the project and land lease — are pending. Both were due in August, but the finance department has not cleared them. Reason? Figures need to be reworked.

Infrastructure minister P.G.R. Sindhia told The Times of India on Friday: “We are trying to reduce the state support of Rs 350 crore for the project. Our government is also reviewing all other figures closely, as we don’t want to get into any mess like other infrastructure projects.”

Any review naturally spells delay for the project, though Sindhia said both agreements should be through latest by October. “We are committed to the project, but everyone should have little patience. Our government is not even 100 days old,” he said.

For the project promoters, however, the delay has not been 100 days but four years. So much so, that the Zurich Airport Authority (ZAA) is threatening to withdraw from the project, due to the “bureaucratic delays” at many levels.

ZAA representative Herbert Meier said the company was at the end of its patience. “We are not giving a deadline, but we cannot take more of this for certain. If the delays are going to be a never-ending story, all we can say is that the project will go on without us,” he maintained.

Meier contended that as far as the company was concerned, the state support and land lease agreements had already been negotiated. “There are a few details that need to be worked out, but if the state support amount is being reexamined, it might be time for us to quit,” he said.

He said that his company had gone through a difficult financial patch over the last couple of years, following the closure of Swiss Air, on the heels of the 9/11 events. “We have recovered now and are showing a profit. But unlike our partners, our patience is more thin as we are not so interested in international airport expansion projects any more,” he stated.