India's domestic air traffic growth to be world's second highest

NEW DELHI: India's domestic air travel market would be among the top five globally, experiencing the second highest growth rate in domestic passenger traffic afterKazakhstan but before China, IATA said today. 

Global airlines' body International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its Airline Industry Forecast 2012-2016, saying only Kazakhstan, India and China would experience double-digit growth in domestic passenger traffic during the period, recording 22.5, 13.1 and 10.1 per cent growth respectively, adding a total of 49.3 million new passengers. 

"No other country is expected to experience double-digit growth rates over the forecast period," the IATA study said. 

By 2016, the five largest markets for domestic passengers would be the United States (710.2 million), China (415 million), Brazil (118.9 million), India (107.2 million) and Japan (93.2 million). 

Globally, the IATA industry traffic forecast showed that the airlines were expected to fly some 3.6 billion passengers in 2016, which is about 800 million more than the 2.8 billion carried by them in 2011. 

In terms of air cargo carriage too, India would be among five fastest growing international freight markets over the 2011-2016 period. 

The compound annual growth rate of the air cargo sector would be the highest for Sri Lanka at 8.7 per cent, followed by Vietnam (7.4 per cent), Brazil (6.3), India (6.0) and Egypt (5.9), the IATA said. 

Maintaining that aviation globally supported some 57 million jobs and USD 2.2 trillion in economic activity, IATA DG and CEO Tony Tyler said governments would have to "recognise aviation's value with policies that do not stifle innovation, tax regimes that do not punish success and investments to enable infrastructure to keep up with growth."

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/indias-domestic-air-traffic-growth-to-be-worlds-second-highest/articleshow/17507907.cms

Vijay Mallya to meet lenders on December 17

MUMBAI: Lenders of Kingfisher AirlinesBSE 2.94 %will meet the promoter Vijay Mallya on December 17 to decide the way forward on the ailing company. 

The meeting is crucial for Kingfisher Airlines whoseflying licence has been suspended since October 20 due to safety reasons and has been seeking financial support from lenders for over a year to revive the company. Lenders, on the other hand, have declined to provide any additional funds unless promoters infuse equity capital. 

The meeting also gains prominences since "the lenders have decided to take a final call on the fate of airlines" said a senior bank officials who did not want to go on record. 

He said that the bank has received intimation from the lead bank, the State Bank of IndiaBSE 0.77 %indicating that the lenders will have to proceed with recovery process if the company is unable to come up with a concrete plan to revive the airlines. 

Incidentally, even as banks have lent over Rs 7000 crore to the airlines they do not possess as much securities that can be enforced to recover their dues.

The promoter, Mr Mallya has pledged Kingfisher House located in Mumbai and a Goa villa with banks. The combine value of both the properties will not fetch lenders more than Rs 300 crore. 

However bankers are hoping that Mallya would now be better positioned to infuse capital following the deal withDiageo Plc wherein he sold 27 per cent of his stake in United SpiritsBSE 0.92 % early November. However, speaking to analysts, Mallya had hinted that both (airlines and liquor) the businesses are dealt separately. 

"There will be no cost contamination. Kingfisher will chalk out its recapitalisation plan separately and independently of this transaction," Mallya had said. 

This will be the first meeting between the lenders and promoters after the company's flying licence was suspended and after the Diageo deal was announced. Lenders had originally planned to meet on December 8. 

However the meeting was reschedule so that Vijay Mallya could attend it. Earlier, Pratip Chaudhuri, SBIBSE 0.77 % chairman had indicated that lenders had set a deadline of November 30 for the company to bring in fresh capital. 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/vijay-mallya-to-meet-lenders-on-december-17/articleshow/17508104.cms

Airport row: Today GMR loses an airport, and India the prestige

NEW DELHI: The investment of GMR Infrastructure and debt bearing of a purchase of Indian banks to a Male International Airport seemed to be underneath a cloud as a Singapore justice inspected a right of Maldives to take over a airport, after days of extreme wrangling. The court, however, also emphasised GMR’s right to compensation.

The Singapore Court of Appeal, a city state’s top court, overturned a Tuesday sequence by a reduce justice that barred Maldives from interfering with a airport’s operations. The court, however, hold that “the prejudicial holding of a airfield would volume to an act of sequestration for that a respondent (GMR-led consortium) would be entitled to be compensated in suitability with a agreement”, according to a duplicate of a settlement seen by an ET reporter.

The brawl over a airfield and statements from Maldives officials that a administration dictated to negligence a progressing justice sequence had resulted in a tactful quarrel between India and a archipelago.

The $511-million agreement that GMR and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad won in Nov 2010 to modernize and run a airfield for 25 years mandates Singapore as a office in a eventuality of disputes. The finances of a understanding went badly when a internal justice struck down a sustenance for a $25 airfield growth price as illegal.

While a afterwards supervision guaranteed to strengthen a project’s revenues, a regime change saw a airfield understanding apropos an emotive and politically charged issue. The stream government, underneath President Mohammed Waheed consummated a agreement on Nov 27, sparking off a authorised battle.

The Singapore Court of Appeal relied on a doctrine of change of preference in environment aside a high justice order. “Maldives has a energy to do what it wished to do in these circumstances, including a energy to usurp a airport.

Had they finished that…there would be no room for seeking or extenuation a halt injunction. The agreement provides for a respondent’s rights in a eventuality of expropriation,” pronounced a judgement, sealed by Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. The finish created settlement is approaching to have some-more elements of a verdict.

Transition Panel to be Set up

Maldivian authorities pronounced a send of operations during a airfield will embark Friday. “The send of a airfield will start from 10 am on Friday. Senior GMR officials met with a ministers currently and concluded that a transition cabinet will be put in place tomorrow morning and it will manage a well-spoken transition from GMR to Maldives Airports Company Ltd,” Maldives President Mohamed Waheed’s Press Secretary Masood Imad told ET.

In a statement, GMR pronounced it was study a verbal sequence upheld by a Singapore Court of Appeal and will be means to criticism usually after study a final created order. A GMR orator declined to criticism either a airfield handover would start on Friday.

The destiny of a airfield or GMR’s investment in Maldives, a largest unfamiliar investment in that country, is unclear. The $511-million plan has a debt member of $358 million. The lenders, led by Axis Bank, embody Indian Overseas Bank and Indian Bank.

Imad, a press secretary pronounced a Maldivian airfield company, MACL, will run a airfield as it used to before GMR took over. He pronounced for a tentative growth work that has been stopped, a republic will entice uninformed contracts. “We will not have a understanding like this. MACL will substantially take a year-and-a-half to settle down and call for tenders,” he said.

Maldives has also filed a petition in a Singapore High Court praying that a justice contingency establish a remuneration due to a GMR-led consortium underneath a contract, Imad said.

“Whatever remuneration is motionless by a court, we will pay.” It’s misleading if a record underway in a Court of Appeal will import in on compensation. At a press discussion in Delhi on Wednesday, member of GMR had voiced doubts about Maldives’ ability to sufficient recompense a company.

“The country’s bill is $1 billion. Its GDP is about $2 billion. We have not dynamic a figure, though there have been calculations that it will be upwards of $700 million. We are articulate about 35% of a country’s GDP as compensation,” Saurabh Singhal, an confidant to GMR, pronounced during a press conference.

Last month, Maldives had requested a $25-million loan from India to recompense polite menial salaries and to build a military academy. GMR has already paid $150 million to Maldives as income share and has also invested significantly in modernising a airport.

India responded to a Singapore justice preference observant a settlement was being studied. External Affairs Ministry orator Syed Akbaruddin pronounced a preference has usually dealt with a emperor right of a nation. The legality of a agreement and other tentative issues have not been taken into account, he forked out.

“These issues are not influenced with settlement or not responded to… Fulfilment of all authorised routine and requirement is what we wish to see in this box and we wish all applicable contracts and agreements would be adhered to and all authorised routine carried through,” he said. In a matter on Tuesday, a method had pronounced any “arbitrary and coercive measures” would “inevitably have inauspicious consequences for family between India and Maldives”.

: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/singapore-court-rules-in-maldives-favour-gmr-fears-maldives-may-not-be-able-to-compensate-it-adequately/articleshow/17513059.cms

Maldives can take control of airport: Singapore SC

Male says GMR exiting studying order, says firm

The tussle between the Maldives government and India’s GMR Group over the handover of Male’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport got murkier on Thursday, with conflicting claims from both sides.

Even as the island nation’s government claimed GMR had agreed to vacate the airport tomorrow, following an order of the Singapore Supreme Court, the company categorically denied it had had any such discussion with the government.

Singapore’s apex court, overturning an earlier high court order that had allowed GMR to continue operations at the airport, on Thursday ruled that the Maldivian government could take control.

A NEW TWIST The story so far

Jun 28, ’10 Concession pact executed among MACL, the Maldives govt through its finance and treasury ministry, and a GMR consortium

Jul 28, ’11 Maldives’ civil aviation department sends a letter to GMIAL saying it is authorised to collect $25 as airport development charge (ADC) from all international passengers departing from the airport

Dec 8, ’11  A civil court disallows the collection of ADC

Dec 26, ’11  GMIAL writes to MACL, making a claim to set off the shortfall on account of non-collection of ADC against the payment of future variable annual concession fees

Jan 5, ’12  GMIAL allowed to set off the shortfall

Feb 7, ’12 The erstwhile President, Mohamed Nasheed, resigns

Apr 19, ’12 Consent letter for new arrangement retracted

Jul 20, ’12 GMIAL files anti-suit injunction application in Singapore HC

Oct 25, ’12 Constitution of arbitral tribunal completed

Nov 28, ’12 Maldives cancels contract

Dec 6, ’12 Singapore SC rules Maldives can take control of the Male airport

The Maldivian President’s press secretary, Masood Imad, told Business Standard GMR had said at a meeting attended by GMIAL CEO Andrew Harrison it would exit on Friday. He added: “The firm had no option, as it understood the highest appellate body in Singapore had ruled in MACL’s favour.”

A GMR spokesperson, on the other hand, said: “We have not had any discussion with the government on handing over the airport... We are still studying the oral order of the Singapore Court of Appeals. We would comment only after studying the final written order.”

The GMR group says it has invested around $240 million — $80 million equity and $160 million debt — in the Male airport.

About the compensation Maldives would have to pay to GMR, Siddharth Kapur, the company’s CFO, said at a press conference: “We are yet to arrive at a figure for compensation, if we have to exit the project prematurely.” To this, Imad said his government would abide by the Singapore court’s decision.

Asking the Indian media not to paint this as an India-Maldives conflict, Imad said: “This is a B-to-B (business-to-business) issue and there should be no India-Maldives colour given to this. The Maldives government got involved in this as the guarantor of the agreement.”

On the Singapore SC verdict, news agencies quoted Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, as saying: “Fulfilment of all legal requirements is what we want to see in this case. We hope all relevant contracts and agreements would be adhered to and legal processes followed.”

The GMR Infra scrip dropped 1.2 per cent to close at Rs 19.8 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/maldives-can-take-controlairport-singapore-sc/494833/

GMR spat: Maldives ends deal after waiting 45 days for PM Manmohan Singh; wanted to explain why deal was unsustainable

NEW DELHI: Maldives last week terminated its agreement with the GMR-led consortium to run the Male international airport after it unsuccessfully waited 45 days for an appointment with Prime MinisterManmohan Singh for a special envoy of President Mohammed Waheed to convey a letter explaining why the deal was unsustainable, a senior official from the President's office told ET.

The unilateral termination of the deal is at the centre of a diplomatic row between India and the neighbouring archipelago. "We wanted to explain to the Prime Minister the anger among the people of this country, the pressure the government was under and how ruinous this deal was for Maldives. We wanted to seek his intervention in perhaps convincing GMRBSE -2.27 % to renegotiate. But we received no response for a month and a half.

Time takes a toll on everyone. And then we had no option but to terminate the deal," Masood Imad, press secretary to the President, told ET, speaking on telephone from Male. India's external affairs ministry confirmed receiving a request, but denied that no response was made. "Yes we did receive this request. We responded saying we will receive him at an appropriate level," an external affairs ministry spokesperson said.

Despite an injunction by a competent forum— the Singapore High Court—the Maldives government has announced it will take over the operations of the airport at midnight on Friday.

The Maldives foreign minister telephoned external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday and said the President will be sending a detailed communication to the Indian PM on the matter. Sidharath Kapur, chief financial officer of the airports division of GMR InfrastructureBSE -2.27 %, denied Imad's claim that Maldives wanted to renegotiate the contract and the company was unwilling to do so.

"We have never received any communication from their side about a renegotiation," Kapur said. Kapur also rebutted in detail the allegations against GMR at a press conference in the Capital and expressed hope that Maldives would honour the sanctity of the legal process and not take over the airport. "It's very unfortunate that the airport has become a football in Maldives' political arena," he said.

Kapur explained that the deal would have given Maldives revenues of more than $2.5 billion over the concession period of 25 years. This is apart from $1 billion in passenger service charges, royalties and duties. This, however, is net of the airport development fee that would be deducted till the government was able to pass laws making provisions for such a charge.

The deal, struck in 2010, started unravelling after a local court struck down the deal's provision allowing the operator (GMR) to charge a $25 airport development fee and a $2 insurance surcharge as illegal on December 8, 2011. This dramatically altered the finances of the deal. GMR's Kapur says that the then government gave them an assurance that the company's commercial interests will be protected and the loss of revenue could be adjusted against the revenues due to the state by way of payments to the Maldives Airport Company Ltd (MACL).

The former chairman of MACL issued a letter to GMR to this effect, which the company has subsequently disowned arguing the letter did not have board approval. MACL has also moved court against its former chairman. Curiously, the government of Maldives (then led by former president Mohamed Nasheed), MACL or GMIAL (the GMR-led consortium that runs the airport) did not appeal the decision of a local civil court.

Kapur says the company did not appeal the decision because the board felt at the time that the assurance from the government that GMIAL's commercial interests would be protected was adequate. The decision to rely on the assurance of one government, in a country notorious for political instability, has come back to haunt the consortium. "In hindsight, of course, you can say it was a wrong decision.

You could also ask why we did not go for political risk insurance. We didn't feel the need for it considering the close historical and cultural ties between India and Maldives. We felt that if any problems were to arise, the government of India, which was giving us full support, would be able to help," Kapur said.

When Nasheed-led government was ousted and a new government led by Mohammed Waheed came to power, it soon became clear that if the situation with regard to the airport development fee did not change, the Maldives exchequer would soon be paying GMR rather than the other way around. Imad, the press secretary, said that the former president tried unsuccessfully to get the Maldives parliament, the People's Majlis, to legislate the airport development fee. "Our economy is a tourismbased economy. We already have a departing tax of $24.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/gmr-spat-maldives-ends-deal-after-waiting-45-days-for-pm-manmohan-singh-wanted-to-explain-why-deal-was-unsustainable/articleshow/17498116.cms

Gold robbery: man held at Lucknow airport

He made away with 7 kg of gold

A man from Thrissur who made away with 7 kg gold has been arrested in Lucknow.

A police team from Thrissur, comprising Sub-Inspector K.J. Chacko and Civil Police Officer C.C. Subhash, nabbed Shijo P. Joseph, 38, of Chelakkottukara from the Lucknow airport.

Menachery Babu, a city-based gold manufacturer, and his brother Martin had lodged a complaint with the police that Joseph had on May 25 made away with 3,561 gm gold belonging to them. Joseph had allegedly stolen gold from a few other places too, the police said.

An investigation, led by Crime Branch Superintendent P. N. Unnirajan, revealed that Joseph had stayed in Bangalore and Dubai after the incidents.

He later returned to India via Nepal. He was living in hiding in Jammu and Kashmir, and the North-East.

The investigation team found out that he had a plan to leave India again. The team alerted Lucknow police and he was detained at the airport there. He was brought to Thrissur, produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody.

“We are trying to find where he had sold or stashed away the gold,” an investigator said. The investigation team included Sub-Inspector P. Sankarankutty, Senior Civil Police Officer T.R. Gladstone, Civil Police Officers Linto Devassy, K. Sooraj and Subir Kumar.

Incidents of gold robbery have been frequently reported in the district, a major jewellery manufacturing centre.

On October 28, 2009, a man was arrested on charges of robbing a jeweller's employee of 1.5 kg of gold at Palakkal on October

15. The accused threw chilli powder at the employee and robbed him of gold around 2.30 a.m. while he was transporting it from Kannur to Thrissur. On May 21, 2008, a three-member gang threw chilli powder at two persons and robbed them of cash and 148 gm pure gold.

On June 13, 2011, the police nabbed 11 persons in connection with the robbery of 1,844.680 gm of gold jewellery from an artisan.

A motorcycle-borne gang snatched the bag containing the gold, valued at over Rs.39 lakh, from the artisan in front of a jeweller's shop in the heart of the city on June 7 around 10.30 a.m.

On February 19, 2012, the police arrested eight persons at the Punkunnam railway station on charges of carrying six kg gold and Rs.1.57 crore without proper documents.

JMA gesture

Early this July, the Jewellery Manufacturing Association (JMA) had felicitated the police for their exemplary investigation of a few recent jewellery robbery cases. Commissioner P. Vijayan had received a memento from the JMA on July 9. ‘Shadow Police’, formed at the initiative of the Commissioner, had recovered between May 1, 2011, and May 5, 2012, 718 sovereigns of gold that went missing.

---

·  He had stayed in Bangalore and Dubai

·  Police yet to recover the booty

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/gold-robbery-man-held-at-lucknow-airport/article4172811.ece

Male has authority to take back airport from GMR: S'pore court

In yet another setback to embattled Indian infrastructure major GMR, a Singapore court on Thursday ruled that the Maldives [ Images ] Government can take back the Male International Airport from the private firm.

"Singapore Court of Appeal has passed judgement that the Maldives Government has the authority to take back the airport," Maldives President Mohamed Waheed's Press Secretary Masood Imad said in Male.

He further said, "Maldives will go ahead with the transfer as scheduled."

Maldives had in a surprise move on November 27 terminated the over $500 million contract awarded to GMR during the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed to upgrade its Male airport and to build a new terminal.

The government had said it was terminating the contract because it was signed under "dubious conditions" and was void, a charge hotly contested by the infrastructure major.

Following the termination, GMR had approached the Singapore High Court which had stayed the scrapping of contract. However, the Maldives government remained defiant and asserted that it would take over the airport from GMR on Saturday, a day after the notice period ends.

After Thursday's ruling, Imad told PTI, "We are not doing anything against the law. We are just following the law. Now, even the Singapore court has given us the permission to go ahead."

As per the project contract, in case of any differences between parties, the law of either Singapore or UK would apply.

Taken by "surprise" over the GMR issue, India [ Images ] had conveyed to Maldives that the move will have serious consequences on the bilateral ties as it is considering a "series of options", including slowing down cooperative programmes, if legal course is not followed.

India acknowledges that the Maldivian government's decision to cancel GMR's contract for building Male airport is a domestic issue but it is upset over "anti-India sentiment being whipped up" in connection with the issue there.

Sources said the possibility of some external forces playing a role in the cancellation of the airport contract cannot be ruled out, even though there was no clear evidence of Chinese angle so far.

http://www.rediff.com/business/report/male-has-authority-to-take-back-airport-singapore-court/20121206.htm

AIE passengers to be served Kerala food

MALAPPURAM: As a New Year gift to Malayali passengers, all Air India Express flights from three international airports in the state will serve Kerala delicacies on board, from January onwards.

The plan, aimed at wooing more passengers, is to serve sadya with sambar and three or four vegetarian dishes, idli and dosa with sambar, puttu with kadala curry, local varieties of appams such as vellayappam, kallappam, noolappam, idiyappam, different varieties of thattu dosas, different local varieties of biriyani etc. More items would be added to the menu in the coming days.

The local delicacies that are to be served in the flights were selected after a long procedure. A Delhi based catering firm, which decides menu in Air India flights, presented local varieties of Indian food in Kochi weeks ago and the representatives of Air India selected Kerala dishes from them.

"Food has an important role in creating strong bond between guest and host, so we decided to introduce more localized menu in flights," said a senior Air India source at Kochi. "At present, majority of airlines including Air India Express serve continental and western menu in flights and those who would like to have Malabar or Thiruvananthapuram varieties of food items have no option," he said.

The move to introduce the Kerala menu in international flights from state is the result of an informal suggestion by Union minister of civil aviation K C Venugopal. Now the move has gained momentum after the warm response to the Kerala menu which was introduced in domestic flights of the airlines recently.

"We have introduced the menu, which is almost similar to be introduced in our Express flights, in our domestic flights from December 2 onwards and the response from the passengers is very positive and also encouraging," said source.##

Malappuram: As a New Year gift to Malayali passengers, all the Air India Express flights will serve Kerala's favourite local food items including Sadya, Puttu and Kadala curry(chick peas), Iddali and Sambar, Thattu Dosa etc to its passengers, January 2013 onwards

The aim of the fresh initiative of Air India providing local delicacies in its international flights from three international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode is nothing but to woo more passengers.

Air India planning to serve Sadya with Sambar curry and three or four vegetarian items with it, Iddali and Dosa with Sambar curry, Puttu which goes well with Kadala Curry, local varieties of Appams such as Vellayappam, Kallappam, Noolappam, Idiyappam, different varieties of Thattudosas, different local varieties of Biriyani etc to the passengers. More items would be added to the menu in the coming days.

The local delicacies that are to be served in the flights were selected after a long procedure. A Delhi based catering firm which already deciding menu in Air Indian flights presented their local varieties of Indian food in Kochi weeks ago and the representatives of Air India selected favourite food items of Malayalis among them.

Food has important role in creating strong bond in-between guest and host, so we decided to introduce more localised menu in flights, said a senior Air India source at Kochi. 'At present, majority of Air Lines including Air India Express serving continental and western food items in flights and those who would like to have Malabar or Thiruvananthapuram varieties of food items have no option ', he said adding that some of the Air India Express flights are currently offering menu with Ghee Rice, but it cannot be considered as a Kerala menu.

The move to introduce the Kerala menu in international flights from state was started with an informal suggestion of Union Minister of Civil Aviation K C Venugopal. Now the move has gained momentum after the warm response to the Kerala menu which was introduced in domestic flights of the airlines days ago. 'We have introduced the menu which is almost similar to be introduced in our Express flights, in our domestic flights from December 2 onwards and the response from the passengers is very positive and also surprising', said source.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/AIE-passengers-to-be-served-Kerala-food/articleshow/17513561.cms

Maldives wins airport dispute with GMR

The Maldives has won a court case allowing it to cancel a $511 million airport development contract with GMR Infrastructure (GMRI.NS), clearing the way for it to take over its main airport.

The contract for Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, agreed in 2010, was the largest foreign investment in the south Asian tropical island chain famous for its luxury beach resorts popular with honeymooners and scuba divers.

But it has become embroiled in a bitter political argument, threatening to cloud foreign investor sentiment towards a country seeking overseas cash for many of its tourism projects.

"The Maldives government has the power to do what it wants, including expropriating the airport," Sundaresh Menon, the Chief Justice of Singapore, said in court on Thursday.

His ruling came after GMR won a brief reprieve on Monday when a court order suspended the government's decision to cancel the contract, although the Maldives still pressed ahead with plans to take over the airport.

A spokesman for the Maldives president said the government would call for international tenders in about 18 months to continue with the airport modernisation.

Shares in GMR Infrastructure were down as much as 4.2 percent following the ruling after earlier being in positive territory on the day. They later pared some of those losses.

Andrew Harrison, chief executive officer of the airport project, said it was too soon to discuss the practicalities of a handover.

"We've always been advocates of following the law. We are waiting to review the full judgment, which is currently being written up. It is too early to comment officially. We will have a staff briefing tomorrow afternoon," he told Reuters.

GMR employs 1,800 people at the airport, 95 percent of whom are locals.

"We will take over. We will enroll all those people from GMR who wish to join. Those who don't can go home. By Friday midnight we will take over," Imad Masood, the Maldives president's media spokesman, told Reuters, adding that the Maldives would pay compensation to GMR.

The two sides have not yet agreed on terms of compensation.

"We will go for international tenders maybe in one-and-half years from now. But they will be very transparent," he added.

The Maldives, south-west of India, terminated an agreement with GMR last week, rattling its relations with its neighbour.

"GMR is the biggest Indian investment in Male and we are only insisting for adherence to the legal process. Nothing more, nothing less," Syed Akbaruddhin, spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said on Thursday.

The cancellation of the contract follows a year of political turmoil in the Maldives that saw the ousting of its former president and months of unrest.

The contract to upgrade and operate the airport and build a new terminal came after a global tender overseen by the World Bank and signed under former president Mohamed Nasheed's administration.

The project was implemented through a joint venture company comprising GMR Infrastructure Limited and Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB.KL).

However, Nasheed's rivals filed legal action saying the contract was invalid as it contained a $25 airport development charge per outgoing passenger which was not authorised by parliament.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/12/06/maldives-gmr-airport-contract-idINDEE8B505420121206

Minister assures to examine Aranmula project issues

Kochi, Dec 6:  

The Union Defence Minister is said to have assured a delegation opposing the proposed Aranmula Airport project that his ministry would examine the issues raised in the memorandum submitted by the group, which called on him in New Delhi.

Kummanam Rajasekharan, Patron, Aranmula Heritage Village Action Council (AHVAC), who headed the delegation, told Business Line that the Defence Minister A.K. Antony, had listened to “the issues and the consequences of such an airport at Aranmula and assured that the Ministry would examine them”.

He said the delegation had also submitted memorandums to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and Union Minister for Environment and Forests seeking their intervention in the proposed airport which would affect the region following reclamation of vast stretches of paddy fields and wetlands spread over three panchayats.Several Studies show that wetland and paddy-cultivated acreage in the State fell by 65 per cent in 30 years , he said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/minister-assures-to-examine-aranmula-project-issues/article4172000.ece

Delegation meets Aviation Minister to press demands

A delegation from Coimbatore on Thursday met Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in New Delhi and pressed for a charter of demands for improvements to aviation infrastructure and better air connectivity.

The delegation from the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore was led by its president R.R. Balasundharam and vice-president D. Nandakumar.

Talking to The Hindu over phone after the meeting, they said that the Minister had voiced support to the demand of the industries in Coimbatore region for increasing the airline operations from Coimbatore, which was declared as an International Airport recently. The Minister also promised to expedite works relating to infrastructure.

Mr. Singh expressed support for providing greater connectivity from Coimbatore to other cities both within and outside India. He wanted the ICCI to take up the issue with the concerned airlines and the ministry would back the request. The office-bearers pointed out that the airport in Coimbatore suffered from infrastructure bottlenecks and the connectivity was inadequate. They urged the Minister to accelerate the expansion programme of the airport and increase the number of cargo flights from the city.

The Chamber urged the Minister to include Coimbatore Airport in the list for bilateral agreements for unrestricted operations. It wanted operation of international flights to the Middle East with onward connections to Europe and North America and introduction of daily flights to Dubai.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/delegation-meets-aviation-minister-to-press-demands/article4173103.ece