Kerala to push airline project at NRI conference

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Sources at the non-resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) ministry said Chandy will seek immediate sanction to start the airline at the chief ministerssession on January 9.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will press the Air Kerala project mooted in 2005 to solve the travel woes of Keralites working in the Middle East at the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) to be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from January 7.

Sources at the non-resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) ministry said Chandy will seek immediate sanction to start the airline at the chief ministers’session on January 9. He is the only chief minister of the Congress-ruled states who has so far confirmed his participation in the event.

The civil aviation ministry’s guideline stipulating a fleet of at least 20 aircraft and five year experience in operating domestic services to launch international operations had put the project on the backburner. Though there were reports that the ministry had decided to relax the conditions the state has not received any official communication so far in this regard the sources said.

Chandy will seek exemption from these conditions so that the state can launch the service during the current year. The state government has already floated a company named Air Kerala International Services to run the airline. It has been registered as a fully owned subsidiary of Cochin International Airport (CIAL).

Air Kerala plans to raise Rs2 billion through equity as initial capital. While 26 per cent of shares will be held by the state government CIAL and public sector units the remaining 74 per cent will be held by shareholders. Several NRI businessmen in the Gulf have agreed to participate in the project.

Chandy will also seek a rehabilitation package for Indians returning from abroad after loss of job. While the conflicts and naturalisation of labour in several countries have already led to an exodus the economic recession following the steady fall in oil prices is expected to hasten the process.

The state government has already formulated a rehabilitation package for the nurses who have returned from Iraq and Libya following the civil war. Minister for Non-resident Keralites Affairs K C Joseph will present this and other measures the government has undertaken for the welfare of the diaspora at the Gulf session on January 9.

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