The Center's unilateral decision to privatise airports usurps the rights and autonomy from the State. It violates the pledge made in 2003 that...

DMK president M.K. Stalin strongly opposed the Union government's unilateral decision to privatise major public airports across the country, characterizing the policy as a direct usurpation of state rights and constitutional autonomy. Stalin pointed out that civil aviation infrastructure represents strategic national assets constructed on prime public lands acquired and subsidized heavily by state governments on behalf of their citizens, making unilateral central privatization an assault on cooperative federalism.

Stalin highlighted that the Union government's arbitrary privatization decree directly violates a formal policy pledge established in 2003, which explicitly mandated that any proposal concerning airport modernization, leasing, or privatization would be undertaken only after formal consultation and agreement with the concerned state governments. Bypassing state administrations and handing over critical transportation hubs and revenue-generating infrastructure to favored private corporate conglomerates completely subverts federal principles and disempowers state stakeholders who invested land and civic resources.

Calling for an immediate revocation of the unilateral privatization orders, Stalin urged the Centre to respect state rights. He affirmed that the DMK will firmly resist the indiscriminate sell-off of vital public infrastructure to private corporate monopolies.