Dharam and company clear decks for Devanahalli airport ?

FINALLY SOMETHING IN THE AIR FOR NAMMA BENGALURU
Dharam and company clear decks for Devanahalli airport
Times of India

Bangalore: Reaffirming his commitment to predecessor S.M. Krishna’s IT-BT-industrial investment mantra, chief minister N. Dharam Singh on Tuesday cleared the decks for the take-off of the Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli, within a month.

After a catch-all meeting comprising deputy CM Siddaramaiah and three senior ministers — Mallikarjun M. Kharge, M.P. Prakash and P.G.R. Sindhia — Singh told reporters: “Any major project will face hiccups. Our coalition government is very clear in its commitment to the international airport as well as the Information Technology and Biotechnology sector.”

“We have given in principle clearance to the agreements, the final clearance will be given at the December 21 Cabinet meeting.’’
The Centre, which is keenly watching the Bangalore project, has also cleared the investment required from its side. “I met both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel on December 2. They approved of everything,’’ Singh maintained.

The state’s civil aviation minister Sindhia set a target date of January 2005 to start the airport’s construction. With this in mind, the meeting worked out a “give and take’’ with Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) over pending state support and land lease agreements.Singh admitted that several doubts had been raised over cost inflation. “Our officials will discuss these again with BIAL and the final formula, along with technical issues, will be cleared by the airport board meeting on Wednesday,’’ he stated.

SHAKE HANDS ON IT

At the meeting, after making comparisons with other airports, including Kochi and the upcoming Hyderabad one, the government and BIAL agreed to the following:

Govt cleared as soft loan the state support amount of Rs 350 crore (Rs 275 crore base and Rs 75 crore contingency) promised by Krishna government.

BIAL has given in on sales tax concessions worth Rs 30 crore.

Govt has agreed to give registration fee concessions worth Rs 42 crore.

4,000 acres will be given at concessional lease rent, raising about Rs 95 crore in the first year, increasing progressively every year.

For non-airport activities, higher lease rent is payable.