RIL, ADAG among 37 in race for developing eight airports in AP

Reliance Industries Ltd, and an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company are among the 37 who have submitted expressions of interest (EoI) to develop eight regional airports in Andhra Pradesh, a senior official with Infrastructure Corp of Andhra Pradesh said.

Infrastructure Corp of Andhra Pradesh is the nodal agency for airports development in the state. Technical and financial bidding for the projects are expected to be completed in 3-4 months and the project would be awarded by September, he said.

The state government recently invited EoIs from private companies to develop these airports on a public-private partnership basis.

Other major companies that have evinced interest in the projects are Maytas Infra, Unitech, IVRCL, Lanco Infratech, GMR Infra, and London-based Caparo group promoted by Swaraj Paul. ADAG has submitted its documents through Reliance Airport Developers Pvt Ltd, the official said.

The new airports are expected to come up in Bobbili, Nellore, Tadepalligudem, Ongole, Kurnool, Kothagudem, Nizamabad, and Ramagundam.

"Major infrastructure developers in the country have submitted their EoIs and submitted pre-qualification request papers," the official said.

The state government will allocate land as its share of the project cost and the rest will have to be borne by the developers, the official said.

"A total of 87 companies responded to our invitation for pre-qualification process. Out of them, 37 companies have been qualified for the bidding," the official added.