Ready to run airport if invited by government: GMR

Indian company GMR has said that it is it is ready to run Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) if invited by the Maldivian government.

The former government terminated its agreement with GMR, which was signed by the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed, and handed over the management of INIA to Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) on 8 December 2012.

Following this, GMR went into arbitration in Singapore, and hearings on this case have been scheduled for late March 2014.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Indian Entrepreneurial Summit 2013 in Hyderabad, Chairman of GMR Group GM Rao said, “We are under arbitration. If they invite us, definitely we are ready to do that.”

He added that no discussions in this regard have taken place between GMR and the Maldivian government.

Rao said that the company had made a $1.4 billion compensation claim for wrongful termination of its contract, but is nevertheless open to returning to Maldives to run the airport again.

Former President Nasheed, of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said during the presidential campaign that if his party won the election, GMR would be invited to return to run the airport.

Speaking at a recent press conference at the President’s Office, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adheeb said that the present Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) government does not plan to transfer the running of the airport to any group.

“PPM was the party that initiated the airport issue. Our president was imprisoned for this fight, and our coalition members including Gasim were arrested and endured serious punishment. After all that, we have come this far because the government of President Waheed saved the country from this,” he said.

The government terminated its agreement with GMR following serious pressure also from the public.