Thaindian News

Mumbai, July 7 (IANS) The Karnataka government has retained Maytas Infra, a company run by the family of former Satyam chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, as the developer for two greenfield airport projects at Gulbarga and Shimoga.
“The Karnataka government has decided to retain it to develop two greenfield airport projects at Gulbarga and Shimoga,” the company said in a regulatory statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The state decided to continue with Maytas Infra after the corporate affairs ministry recommended the continuation of the contracts.

“The Karnataka government’s apprehension about the company’s liquidity and credibility has been addressed by the reconstituted board of Maytas Infra and the corporate debt restructuring package recently approved by the lenders,” said the statement.

“We were always confident about our project development cum exhibition abilities, and this news is a great validation of this,” said Maytas Infra president Chander Sheel Bansal.

The Karnataka government’s decision came even as Andhra Pradesh Tuesday cancelled the Hyderabad Metro rail project contract awarded to Maytas Infra.

Andhra Urban Development Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy said the state government decided to cancel the project as the company failed to achieve financial closure by the July 6 deadline.

Maytas bagged the Rs.12,230-crore project by offering to give about Rs.30,000 crore to the government over 30 years. Company chairman K. Ramalingam had met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy recently but could not guarantee financial closure or performance.

The minister also said that the Rs.71 crore that Maytas had paid would not be returned, and that a detailed plan for the project would be announced July 13.