TEAM HERALD
NEW DELHI: In a policy decision, the Centre-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) will compete with private domestic and international players to bid for construction of the new Rs 3,000-crore greenfield airport at Mopa in Goa.
Its board has cleared its Chairman R K Srivastava’s proposal to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and
register its interest for the project, the deadline for which is February 12.
An AAI official was on Monday quoted by a financial daily that the AAI will have an edge over the private bidders as it seeks to ensure the service levels comparable with the airports run by the private operators like those in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
“We are already operating another airport in Goa and that makes our case strong. We can also arrange funds at the cheapest rates than many others, hence building the terminal at the cheapest cost,” the official said, adding that the authority may hire consultants or have a new joint ensure partner to improve the services.
The move to bid for the Mopa airport is being seen as a change of strategy under R K Srivastava, who took over as the chairman only last month. The official said the AAI may bid for other new airport projects as well. The AAI had the monopoly of building and running the airports in India until the previous governments decided to engage the private conglomerations that can provide better services.
The Mopa airport is to operate along with the existing airport that is owned by the Indian Navy and operated by AAI. It is to be built in four phases at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore.
“As transaction advisers to the government of Goa on the Mopa airport project, we welcome bidders with strong airport experience to come and participate,” said Amber Dubey of global consultancy firm KPMG, noting that given their talent pool, the AAI management should also consider participating in international tenders for airport planning, development, operations and consultancy. He suggested the AAI collaborate with a leading Indian or global infrastructure company.
