Oommen Chandy Says , Kerala will push low-cost airline
Kerala has not given up on a proposal to start an airline of its own, particularly to provide low-cost options to its vast diaspora in the Gulf, and will soon pursue this with the central government, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said. "We are at the moment concentrating on our fourth international airport at Kannur. Once that is done, we will pursue the airline option. We have not given up on the idea of a low-cost carrier," Chandy said at an interaction with IANS journalists during a visit to the agency's head office here Monday evening. "We have also brought down the minimum level of investment in the Kannur airport project to Rs.50,000 from Rs.200,100 for individual investors," Chandy, who assumed office for the second time on May 18 said, adding this was a major request among many investors. The project, under public-private partnership, is being set up by a consortium in which 26 percent of the equity is with the government, 23 percent with pub