PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that the government will give 180 more days of revenue sharing holiday to Mopa Airport promoter GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL) on account of Covid-19 pandemic. The extension of GMR’s revenue holiday however has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition who charged that such a decision will create a loss to the public exchequer and have threatened to take the government to task over the issue.
Addressing a press conference at Mantralaya at Porvorim, Sawant said the State government’s 36.99 per cent of revenue from the Mopa airport will be payable from December 7, 2024.
He said the delay has been caused due to the plea before the Supreme Court and Covid-19 pandemic which delayed overall operations.
The payment was to start from May 31, 2024, but it will now commence from December 7, 2024, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the extension has been granted based on the concessionaire agreement signed with GMR which mandates extension in period in the events like pandemic.
However, Sawant said he had not considered the Covid pandemic period when he made a statement on the floor of the house that the government’s share of 36.99 per cent of the gross revenue from the airport will be payable with effect from May 31, 2024.
The mistake will be rectified in the house during the upcoming monsoon session of the assembly, he said.
According to the Chief Minister, earlier 634 days of extension was granted to the developer of the airport for completion of the project on account of the matter being in Supreme Court and two years of exemption was given for payment of annual premium as per the agreement.
Now the revenue sharing will commence from December 7, 2024, and continue for 35 years, till 2059, Sawant said.
The Chief Minister alleged that the opposition was unnecessarily raising the issue and claiming that there is a loss to the state exchequer whereas the fact is that there is no intention of causing a loss of even Rupee one.
