Mangaluru: Reacting to the Congress and Janata Dal (S) leaders in Dakshina Kannada district blaming the union government for its decision of privatising airports including Mangaluru International Airport (MIA), Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu clarified that the final decision in this regard has not been taken yet.
It is known that Congress and JDS leaders have taken up the issue of privatisation of airports and are alleging that the Narendra Modi-led government has taken such a decision to help the corporate companies. However, Suresh Prabhu, who was in city to attend the poll campaign told reporters that the decision is still pending.
Meanwhile, Prabhu said that the union government had set up around 30 airports in several parts of the country in the past three years and there is a plan to construct 100 more airports in the next 10 years. “There is a target of constructing around 300 airports in our country”, he added.
Speaking about the financial allocation for the Railway department, Prabhu said, “The union government has earmarked a total of Rs 8.54 Lakh Crore for the development of railways in the last five years. It is the highest grant allocated for the developmental projects in railways after India got independence. The Congress government has spent only Rs 3 Lakh Crore on railways during the last seven decades.”
About the proposal of ‘Spices Park’ in Kodagu district, Prabhu said, “As Karnataka produces large quantity of spices, there is a plan to set up a ‘Spices Park’ in Karnataka. All essential measures will be taken to materialise this project in the coming days.”
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel, Puttur MLA and District BJP President Sanjeeva Matandoor, Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath and former MLA N Yogish Bhat were present.
