EDITORIAL Public Personalities, Private Interests Global Investors Meet, Kochi - Air India Miss the Flight AgainSets New Record in Flight Delays
Maharaja Air India is setting new records in flight delays and technical problems, if the current trend is any indication. A few days ago the Air India New Delhi-Muscat flight landed in Muscat almost 37 hours late due to technical problems and fog. Yesterday also AI 831 Muscat- New Delhi flight was delayed by around 10 hours apparently due to bad weather in the Indian side. The flight came late by at least ten hours, causing serious inconvenience to passengers. It is reported that the delays are mainly because AI is having an acute shortage of aircaraft.
However, many eyebrows are raised about the manner in which the national carrier is causing inconvenience to passengers at a time when other Gulf based carriers are gearing up to grab more business in the Indian sector. It appears that someone in New Delhi is (deliberately?) trying to create a bad image about the Indian carrier for the benefit of some unknown parties. The pertinent question is why only Air India always get frequently into technical and fog problems? Other carriers dont face it? It is learned that some senior officials in the Civil Aviation Ministry are keen to favour the Gulf carriers by giving them more seats and business opportunities. Our leaders are more vocal about patriotism during the elections, but when it comes to dealing with foreign companies all such patriotic feelings disappear.
Is there a covert plan to close down international operations of Indian Airlines, another public sector airline which is doing good business in the Gulf sector? Lobbying and counter lobbying are going on to decide the future shape of both the Indian national carriers. Despite severe competition against each other both AI and IA share only a negligible portion of the Gulf-Indian sector. The major chunk is still dominated by the Gulf carriers and efforts are on to increase the foreign airlines share in the business. Apparently someone has been trying deliberately to tarnish their images and possibly to sell the national carriers at throw away prices. It is learned that the concerned civil aviation officials are giving a tacit support to the whole plan. The problem facing IA or Air India is common to many other public sector assets listed under the privatisation plans.
Global Investors Meet, Kochi
Public Personalities, Private Interests!
Public Sector undertakings like the Centaur Hotels and Kovalam Hotels under the Ashoka Group have been sold to private parties just for peanuts. According to reports, all of these deals are highly favourable to the private buyers -some of them could "influence" senior officials and ministers to get favourable valuation. The controversy around the Bombay Centaur hotel deal is already in the media. KM leanrs that one of the public sector assets was purchased at a throw away price by a leading businessman partly using the fund raised from an Indian financial institution. If one evaluates the real estate value of the asset, the property is worth several times the price for which it is acquired. Some of the dubious international consultants are evaluating such projects. The credibility of such western consultancy firms is at an all time low - thanks to the Enron scandal and a number of other multibillion international scams perpetrated by them. These cases are well documented in the international media.
State Financial Institutions finance Purchase Central Governent Asset?
Some of the state and central privatisation deals are planned to be financed with huge loans obtained from public sector banks and financial institutions -- of course with the covert support of some politicians. New laws and regulations are introduced suddenly to favour the "acquisition" of state assets at throw away prices using finance from banks and financial institutions. It may not be impossible to buy public sector assets by taking loan from the government controlled financial institutions. Take over an asset owned by the central government with a loan from the state governement FIs! With the help of political patronage it is possible now a days. Even a high profile multinational company like Enron took the Indian banks and financial institutions for a ride by getting all the finance required for its power projects in Maharashtra from the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and a consortium of banks. Enron's Dhabhol project was supposed to be one of the landmark foreign direct investment in India, but much of the money to finance it was obtained from Indian banks and financial institutions! Media reports suggested that the IDBI and other members in the consortium were unable to recover these loans! Ultimately it turned out that the main "foreign direct investment" from Enron was the suitcase full of money that changed hands in New Delhi and Mumbai to influence politicians of various colours ranging from Gopinath Munde to Sharad Pawar and Bal Thakre!
Enron was a foreign company and there is no comparison with the NRIs. Some of the patriotic NRI businessman have been talking about investing several thousand crores of rupees in various projects in the state, but the major chunk of the funds would have to come from state financial institutions or a fund raising campaign from ordinary NRIs. There are lot of state government assets waiting to be given to private parties on a platter. It is doubtful whether the Antony Government would have any hesitation in selling air, water and even the State Secretariat. According to the state industry ministry, eighty three projects requiring an investment of over Rs. 31,000 Crores will be presented before the investors during the event. Some of the state financial institutions are talking about raising a few thousand crores from the market. Cooperative banks are gearing up to raise a few thousand crores. It is to be monitored as to how many banks would finance such projects, purely on commercial basis.
The general impression about the Global Investors Meet is that the super rich Non Resident Keralites businessmen are going to invest their hard earned money in such projects. If they do it sincerely, such a step would definitely change the industrial image of the state. But the track record of some of the NRIs is not encouraging. Take the list of bank defaulters published by the Reserve Bank of India and count the number of NRI companies which duped banks and FIs. According to reports, the outstanding non performance assets of Indain banks and financial institutions is mindboggling. (Not going into details here). And NRI businessman share a portion of it.
Only Five Year Term for Ministers
Some of the Kerala ministers dubious plans have already come out in public -- long term lease of Government rest houses, courtesy the high profile minister M.K. Muneer. Now there are many real estate asset of schools which are closed down due to the perverted education policy of the state government. All the closed schools are located in prime areas. Some of the NRK businessmen are eyeing this property! This is just one example, there are other projects and assets. Is there is a covert plan to buy the property of a public sector undertaking at throw away prices because of the real estate assets. A case in point is the FACT in Kerala which has got several hundred acres of land! Any government is elected only for five years -- it has no right to pledge the country's wealth for the use of future generations. Some politicians who have amassed huge amount through corruption and bribery may divert those illgotten wealth back to Kerala. It is a known secret a few of the NRKs who are in the forefront of Global Investors Meet are into some dubious business in the Gulf for these politicians.
Kerala desperately needs a different development culture to solve the unemployment problem. But that does not mean that some of the ministers who are elected only for five year term can sell off the state assets at throw away prices to greedy businessman. It is well known to Gulf Keralaites as to how public institutions are converted overnight into private establishments by some of the NRKs. The latest case in point is that of K.P.Mohan, a well known NRK who made crores by duping the Indian schools in Kuwait. There are several K.P.Mohans around and the most literate state should not be taken for a ride by them.
We hope that the big gathering of NRK businessmen in Kochi would not be making an effort to convert public assets into private enterprises thrugh dubious routes. If they are genuinely interested in investing in the state, everybody would support it. Even the radical red would give them a red carpet welcome. But if the plan is to utilise political influence to steal money from public sector banks, or the central and state financial institutions to snatch away the public assets, there will be protest from all corners. If the plan is to put a price tag on "air" "water" and other "wealth of nature" there will be opposition from all corners. --Editor, Keralamonitor.com
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