Shareholders demand listing of Cial's shares

Kochi: Shareholders have come up with a demand that the listing of Cial's stakes in stock exchanges should be done at the earliest. However, the Cial authorities and govt are yet to take any decision in this regard.
With the annual general body meeting of Cial to be held this weekend, the shareholders have decided to raise the issue at the meeting. "Around 5,000 shareholders unanimously raised the demand at the annual general meeting in 2015.The then chief minister Oommen Chandy promised us that the authorities would soon take steps to list the shares. Even after almost a decade, the Cial authorities haven't done it. In fact, there has not been any move in this regard even after the Pinarayi Vijayan govt assumed office in 2016," said Babu George, a shareholder.
To prompt many landowners to surrender their land during the land acquisition for the airport, the then chief minister K Karunakaran had promised them that they would be given shares of the Cial. They were also told that the shares could be sold off in the stock exchange for handsome amounts, George said.
At the same time, officials with the Cial said that it is up to the state govt, which is the majority shareholder, to take a call on the issue.