Industry captains take to streets over Bangalore airport

Captains of the Information Technology (IT) and Bio Technology (BT) industry in Bangalore took to the streets on Saturday protesting against the closure of the existing HAL airport in the City.

The protest, which comes barely a week ahead of the scheduled launch of commercial operations from the newly constructed Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli, about 35 kms from the City, brought out a galaxy of industry captains from the plush air conditioned environs of their offices into the blazing sun.

Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Head of Infosys HR Mohandas Pai and fashion guru Prasad Bidapa gathered in front of the HAL airport in Bangalore holding aloft banners.

They were joined by employees of airport authority of India, taxi drivers as well as people employed in the small hotels, juice shops and coffee joints located in the area surrounding the airport.

“We are not against the opening of the new international airport. We need two airports and the Government should renegotiate with the promoters of the new airport to allow the existing airport to continue”, Shaw said.

Pai feared that Bangalore will not become easily accessible if the existing airport is closed down. He also did not rule out companies moving out of Bangalore if the existing airport is shut down.

“Almost 30 per cent of people from the IT industry in Bangalore travel outside India at least once a quarter. If they spend one or two hours just commuting to the airport, it will be a major problem that will impact the industry's growth in the next five years," he said.