From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jun 18: Karnataka’s Energy Minister D K Shivakumar has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah restrain the GVK Group from selling its 10 per cent share in the Kempe Gowda International Airport Ltd (KGIAL), Bengaluru, to Canadian Fairfax Group.
The GVK Group had earlier sold its 33 per cent of its share to Fairfax Group, which had acquired 5 per cent stake from Zurich Airport.
The KGIAL was developed by the State government with the investment from Siemens and Zurich Airport and became operational in 2008.
The GVK Group had 43 per cent of the share in the KGIAL.
“If the GVK Group sell its remaining 10 per cent of the share (33 per cent plus 10 per cent), the combined share of the foreign shareholders that is - Siemens (26 per cent) and Fairfax Group (5 per cent plus, 33 per cent plus 10 percen) would be 74 per cent," Shivakumar said
He pointed out that it would not be advisable in the interest of providing high standard services the passengers and safety and security of the country will also become a matter of concern.
The Fairfax Group is only a financial investor and has never operated or maintained any international airport.
"If the GVK Group exits by selling their stake to a foreign company as proposed, then the KGIAL will be left with none among the shareholders who have such an experienced and expertise as required by the Sharehodlers Agreement," the minister said in his the letter to the Chief Minister.
"The GVK Group has sold its 38 per cent share for Rs 2200 crore in March 2017 and proposed to sell the remaining 10 per cent for Rs 1290 crore in June 2017 with no significant change in improvement and development of the company," he said.
"He said it shows that the private promoters have made the company as a trading entity, instead of serving the interest of the passengers with services of international standards which was the basic intention behind allowing he promoters to become shareholders in the company by incentivizing in the form of providing more than 4000 acres by the state government," he said.