Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Amid the raging diplomatic row over the unilateral cancellation of the GMR contract, India has put on hold a Rs 250 crore loan to Maldives which was part of a bilateral trade agreement, reports said on Friday.
The move comes on a day when the Maldives government is all set to take over the Male airport operations from GMR Male International Airport Authority later in the day.
A Singapore court on Thursday ruled that the Maldives Government can take back the Male International Airport from the private firm.
Reacting to Singapore court's judgement Maldives President's Press Secretary Masood Imad said, “Singapore Court of Appeal has ruled that Maldives government has authority to take back the airport from GMR.”
“Maldives will go ahead with the transfer as scheduled,” Imad added.
Maldives had in a surprise move on November 27 terminated the over USD 500 million contract awarded to GMR during the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed to upgrade its Male airport and to build a new terminal.
The government had said it was terminating the contract because it was signed under "dubious conditions" and was void, a charge hotly contested by the infrastructure major.
Following the termination, GMR had approached the Singapore High Court which had stayed the scrapping of contract. However, the Maldives government remained defiant and asserted that it would take over the airport from GMR on Saturday, a day after the notice period ends.
First Published: Friday, December 07, 2012, 13:12