Review airport bid norms: Zee

Group believes the evaluation of the technical advisor could be questionable.

A resurgent Zee group, having just bagged the rights to telecast the India-Sri Lanka Test series, has written to the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on airport privatisation suggesting that the evaluation of the technical advisor could be "questionable" and should be reviewed.

Meanwhile, civil aviation ministry sources said the EGoM is likely to consider relaxing the technical conditions for qualifying the bidders. Under the current norms, only those scoring at least 80 out of 100 in the technical evaluation of bids were to qualify for financial evaluation.

The meeting of the inter-ministerial group on the issue ended inconclusively today.

The EGoM is slated to meet on Monday to take up the report of the global technical advisor, Australia's Air Plan, and choose the bidders whose bids will be taken up for financial evaluation.

While Zee has come out in the open with its reservations, discontent with the privatisation process has been simmering for a while among some other bidders, including the drop-outs.

The Zee letter talks of the "the buzz in the aviation sector" that at a meeting of the civil aviation ministry's review committee on November 28, some members walked out "in protest, disagreeing with the evaluation of technical advisor, terming it biased".

There is a feeling that the bidders were not alerted in time about the performance guarantee to be furnished by the foreign airport operator (there had to be one in every bidding consortium).

When the time came to submit the bids, Bharti's partner, Changi of Singapore, grew cold feet, even though Bharti offered to give the guarantee. "We were ready to furnish the guarantee on Changi's behalf, but it (Changi) did not agree," said Bharti chairman Sunil Mittal.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajay Prasad today said the entire privatisation process has been fully transparent, consulting the bidders at length. However, some bidders said they were not told in detail the basis of grading.

"The consultation was mainly about how a bidder thought the project should be executed, how much business could be generated, etc.," said one.

In the midst of all this, lobbying has been gathering pace. One of the bidders is believed to have made a presentation before the Planning Commission this week, talking about its suitability.