High Court stays Rs. 75 lakh payout to Mangalore crash victims' kin

August 25, 2011

Thiruvananthapuram, August 25: In a setback for families of victims of last year's Mangalore air crash, a division bench of the Kerala High Court today overruled a single judge bench order asking air India to pay Rs. 75 lakh as minimum compensation to families of victims.

Last month, the single judge bench had ruled that Air India is liable to pay 'no fault liability' of Rs. 75 lakh to each of the victims as laid down in the Montreal convention to which India is a signatory.

One hundred fifty eight people had died in the air crash on May 22 last year.

Overruling the single judge bench order, the court held that Air India is not liable to pay 'no fault liability' and has asked the airline and the crash victims to negotiate and reach a settlement regarding the compensation.

Interestingly, Air India had gone for appeal despite initial assurances from the Civil Aviation Minister that the airline would not do so.

Counsel for victims say they will go for appeal at a higher court.

An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 airliner from Dubai carrying 166 people crashed outside Bajpe Airport in Mangalore on May 22, 2010 and burst into flames after overshooting a table-top runway and plunging into forest below.

Air India Express is the budget arm of the loss-ridden state-run carrier Air India, which has been fending off growing competition from private airlines.

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Why Mangaluru Could Become India’s Next Offshore Wind Energy Hub

News Network

February 3,2026

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has urged the Centre to give high priority to offshore wind energy generation along the Mangaluru coast, citing its strategic importance to India’s green energy and port-led development goals.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Chowta said studies by the National Institute of Oceanography have identified the Mangaluru coastline as part of India’s promising offshore wind ‘Zone-2’, covering nearly 6,490 sq km. He noted that the region’s relatively low exposure to cyclones and earthquakes makes it suitable for long-term offshore wind projects and called for its development as a dedicated offshore wind energy zone.

Highlighting the role of New Mangalore Port, Chowta said its modern infrastructure, multiple berths and heavy cargo-handling capacity position it well as a logistics hub for transporting and assembling large wind energy equipment.

He also pointed to the presence of major industrial units such as MRPL, OMPL, UPCL and the Mangaluru SEZ, which could serve as direct buyers of green power through power purchase agreements, improving project viability and speeding up execution.

With Karnataka’s peak power demand crossing 18,000 MW in early 2025, Chowta stressed the need to diversify renewable energy sources. He added that offshore wind projects in the Arabian Sea are strategically safer compared to the cyclone-prone Bay of Bengal.

Calling the project vital to India’s target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Chowta urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to initiate resource assessments, pilot projects and stakeholder consultations at the earliest.

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