JOIN USMinister for Infrastructure Development R Roshan Baig on Friday said he would hold talks with the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) on the demand to exempt passengers at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) from the User Development Fee (UDF).
Replying to a question by K Govindaraj of the Congress, he said the AERA fixes the UDF based on the facilities provided at the airport and its future plans. Nevertheless, he would try to convince the AERA not to impose UDF at the KIA from next month, Baig added.
This apart, in a written reply to the Congress’ Allamprabhu Patil, Baig said the government had taken away the bank guarantee of Rs 9.69 crore deposited by promoters of the Gulbarga greenfield airport project as they failed to complete it.
The government is exploring alternative ways to get the project completed, he added.
Companies which were part of the consortium implementing the project had legal disputes two years ago. Hence, the project came to a standstill.
Similar is the fate of the Shimoga airport project, which was awarded to the same consortium, Baig said.