Seaplane, airstrip projects of Kerala hit a snag

Kerala’s ambitious seaplane and aviation projects appear to have run into turbulence once again, with the State reportedly dragging its feet on their implementation. About two years ago, the government floated tenders inviting consultancy firms to conduct feasibility studies to launch air services and build helipads in Bekal, Wayanad and Idukki and to build a seaplane water runway in Kochi. However, the Ministry of Transport has not yet issued a work order for the preparation of the pre-feasibility report.

More recently, the State asked the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board Consultancy-Rail India Technical and Economic Service (KIIFCON-RITES), the joint venture selected through competitive bidding to conduct feasibility studies for airstrips and helipads, to expand the scope of work to include preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) for five water areas in different parts of the state, in addition to the originally awarded works. In response, KIIFCON-RITES informed the government that such an expansion was not possible as the additional work could not be covered within the cost stated in the proposal.

This impasse effectively stalled the project, with the government refraining from issuing work orders even for previously tendered components. These included setting up airstrips in Kasaragod, Wayanad and Idukki, as well as integrating around 100 existing helipads (both government-owned and privately owned) across the State, including the Sabarimala link, into an aviation network.

Last year, the Union government directed Kerala to submit DPRs for starting seaplane services from Bekal as well as Idukki, Malampuzha, Banasura Sagar and Mattupetty/Chenkulam dam areas. The directive followed the allocation of 48 seaplane routes, including in Kerala, to various airlines under the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Regional Connectivity Scheme -UDAN. Based on this directive, the government changed the scope of work that had already been tendered. However, the project was later halted due to an untenable expansion of the scope without a corresponding revision in cost.

Sources close to the state government said: Hindu He said the government is currently considering issuing work orders to KIIFCON-RITES for the initially assigned tasks and is also considering launching a new tender for the seaplane project to select an agency to prepare the DPRs. However, officials warned that the process could take considerable time considering the slow pace of file movement in the Transport department.

Currently five seaplane routes in Kerala are allocated to IndiaOne Air, Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR), PHL and SpiceJet.