If a government decision is only happening after a corporate entity's NOC, it raises the question of whether the country is being governed by elected governments or by corporations.
Published Mar 07, 2025 | 3:29 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 07, 2025 | 3:29 PM
Airport
Synopsis: The revival of Warangal’s Mamnoor Airport, once a key air hub in pre-independence India, is now being celebrated as a major development. While the Congress, BJP, TDP, and BRS all claim responsibility, the real obstacle to the airport’s development has been a restrictive concession agreement signed with GMR in 2004, which barred new airports within a 150 km radius of Hyderabad until 2033. Although GMR has now issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) specifically for Mamnoor, the fact that government decisions played second fiddle to corporate interests raises serious concerns.
At last, the Warangal (Mamnoor) Airport has begun moving. It will become the second airport in the state, after the Hyderabad (Shamshabad) International Airport.
In fact, this airport, which was built before the World War II in the 1930s, was one of the major airports in the country during the first half of the 20th century.
However, for the past four decades, it remained dormant due to government policies as well as unviable air traffic. Now, efforts are underway to renovate and upgrade the airport, making it suitable for civil aviation.
While it is certainly an exciting development for a town to have a new airport facility, the critical question remains: who will benefit from it? We constantly see that grand announcements of “development” by the government end up benefiting only a few.
Discussions should be held on how much this airport will help the 10 lakh population of Warangal city, the 40 lakh population of the unified Warangal district, industrial growth, service sector development, tourism, and employment opportunities for local youth. But instead of such discussions, another debate is taking place – an empty battle of words among political parties. Lies and half-truths are being spread like planes flying through the air.
The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are all claiming the credit for bringing the Mamnoor airport into existence.
As the efforts to revive the airport began during the Congress’s rule in the state, now Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is asserting that it should be credited to their government.
He mentioned that his government has allocated ₹205 crore for the acquisition of an additional 253 acres of land required for the airport.
He also claimed that he personally negotiated with the central government to bring this airport into existence. Revanth Reddy even announced that he would review the development progress of the airport every month.
When news of the airport’s revival spread, BJP workers in Mamnoor on Saturday performed a milk offering to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s portrait to claim the credit for this achievement.
In response, Congress workers tried to place Revanth Reddy’s portrait there. Reports even suggest there was some scuffle between both parties.
The BJP claims that since it was the central government’s Ministry of Civil Aviation that approved the development of the airport, the ₹450 crore assistance promised for the airport development should be credited to them.
BJP workers were so eager to claim the credit that on 28 February, when the government approval came, the next day itself they were performing floral and milk offerings to Prime Minister Modi’s portrait at the Mamnoor airport and distributing fruits and sweets to those present.
In this matter, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also claims that since the central aviation minister, K Ram Mohan Naidu, belongs to their party, the credit for the airport approval should go to them.
Leaders of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), who ruled Telangana for the past ten years, have also started claiming that the decision was the result of their efforts.
They argue that K Chandrashekar Rao’s efforts were the reason behind the airport’s realisation, and condemned Revanth Reddy’s announcement as an insult to the people of Telangana.
While political parties are fighting over who should take credit for the airport revival, the truth is that all their claims are based on lies and half-truths. The reality is that all these parties share responsibility for the delay in the airport’s revival.
Initially, when the existing Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad was deemed insufficient, plans to build a new airport began, and the process was started when both the central and state governments were under Congress’s control.
The construction tender was awarded to GMR. A special purpose vehicle called GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited was formed to build and operate the airport.
GMR held 63 percent of the shares, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) held 13 percent, Telangana (then undivided Andhra Pradesh) held 13 percent, and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad held 11 percent.
An agreement was signed between this company and the Ministry of Civil Aviation in December 2004. The key obstacle to the Mamnoor airport’s development lies in this agreement.
In reality, this is not a fair agreement between four equal partners. The central and state governments, which hold 26 percent shares, voluntarily surrendered their rights and powers, giving GMR, which held 63 percent shares, total control.
This agreement essentially granted a monopoly to GMR. The key clauses in the Concession Agreement (Clauses 5.2.1 and 5.2.2) became a major obstacle to the development of airports in Telangana, including Mamnoor.
According to the agreement, the central government promised GMR that for 25 years from the opening date of the Hyderabad airport (March 23, 2008), no new international or domestic airports would be developed within a 150 km radius, and the existing ones would not be improved.
This restriction will last until 22 March, 2033. Although there have been claims that six airports could be developed in Telangana, this restriction prevented such plans from materialising.
Four proposed airports, including Mamnoor (132 km away), Mahabubnagar (124 km), Nizamabad (153 km), and Karimnagar (178 km), fall within the proscribed radius, making their development impossible. Only proposals for Adilabad and Khammam, which are outside this radius, have any chance of success.
The blame for writing and agreeing to this harmful, humiliating, anti-people contract lies with the Congress party, which was in power at the time.
However, this provision was included due to the civil aviation policy followed after liberalisation, which allowed corporate entities to receive such concessions for airport development. This doesn’t absolve the other three parties, though, as they are also responsible.
When the BJP came to power at the centre, they changed the old civil aviation policy and removed the 150 km exclusivity clause. However, they never reviewed the previous agreements to remove this clause.
Even after 11 years, no action was taken to renegotiate these terms, and there was no consultation with the entities involved. While these parties are now claiming credit for the airport, they had the opportunity to address this issue years ago but failed to do so.
The Telugu Desam Party claims that they deserve credit for the Mamnoor airport approval because the Ministry of Civil Aviation was under their control. However, this was not a decision made independently by a single minister, but rather a cabinet-approved decision.
The BRS position is even more perplexing. During their ten years in power, both the then Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his son KT Rama Rao made numerous announcements about new airports.
I have written about these announcements multiple times, pointing out that they were baseless lies. Without removing the clause in the concession agreement, there was no possibility of developing any new airport in the region until March 2033.
Yet, the BRS repeatedly made promises of new airports during their tenure, without ever acknowledging the obstacle posed by the agreement.
Now, GMR has provided a No Objection Certificate stating that they are willing to waive the restriction for Mamnoor airport, but this waiver is only for this airport, and cannot be applied to other airports in the future, taking this as a precedent.
This means that Mamnoor is moving forward with this NOC, but giving credit to GMR, a corporate entity that is only now allowing the waiver, is not justified.
If a government decision is only happening after a corporate entity’s NOC, it raises the question of whether the country is being governed by elected governments or by corporations.
If a government relinquishes its power to corporations, allowing them to decide when to give up some control, then the political parties in power will continue to bicker for credit while the real power lies with the corporations.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
