 "Tata, GMR, GVK among 8 in fray for Chennai Airport")
The move to privatise the airport here is gaining momentum, with representatives of eight private companies visiting the place on Wednesday to take stock.
Among these were officials from the Tatas, GMR, GVK and Siemens. The site visits were in the wake of requests to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) last month. It was restricted to representatives of applicants which had bought the Request For Qualification (RFQ) document. A pre-application conference was held on February 11, for operation, management and development of the airports at Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur through a public-private partnership.
The representatives visiting on Wednesday were from Siemens Project Ventures, GVK Airport Holdings, GMR Airport Holdings, Egis Avia, Celebi Aviation, Tata Realty and Infrastructure, Pithavadian & Partners and Flemingo Intl.
Officials from the corporate headquarters of AAI in Delhi and the Union ministry of civil aviation were present.
The RFQ is expected to be opened later this month and the documents would be published, putting the details of the evaluations done by the entities in question in the public domain. These are then to be cleared by the government.
During the visit, the airport officials explained the potential of the airport, including that of commercialising the land available with the Authority in the facility. Airport employees have been protesting at the move to privatise the facility, arguing it was recently refurbished with an investment of Rs 2,015 crore. However, the ministry is unhappy with both the work and maintenance of the new terminal, saying it does not meet the quality standards set at Delhi or Mumbai (both of which are run by private companies).
According to AAI, the airport here had seen an increase of 9.4 per cent over a year before in the number of passengers during the period of April to December 2014, at 10.6 million, both domestic and international, as compared to 9.73 mn earlier. Aircraft movements, both domestic and international, rose from April to December 2014 to 93,148, compared to 90,253 during the same period of 2013, an increase of 3.2 per cent.
Among these were officials from the Tatas, GMR, GVK and Siemens. The site visits were in the wake of requests to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) last month. It was restricted to representatives of applicants which had bought the Request For Qualification (RFQ) document. A pre-application conference was held on February 11, for operation, management and development of the airports at Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur through a public-private partnership.
The representatives visiting on Wednesday were from Siemens Project Ventures, GVK Airport Holdings, GMR Airport Holdings, Egis Avia, Celebi Aviation, Tata Realty and Infrastructure, Pithavadian & Partners and Flemingo Intl.
| IN A NUTSHELL |
|
Officials from the corporate headquarters of AAI in Delhi and the Union ministry of civil aviation were present.
The RFQ is expected to be opened later this month and the documents would be published, putting the details of the evaluations done by the entities in question in the public domain. These are then to be cleared by the government.
During the visit, the airport officials explained the potential of the airport, including that of commercialising the land available with the Authority in the facility. Airport employees have been protesting at the move to privatise the facility, arguing it was recently refurbished with an investment of Rs 2,015 crore. However, the ministry is unhappy with both the work and maintenance of the new terminal, saying it does not meet the quality standards set at Delhi or Mumbai (both of which are run by private companies).
According to AAI, the airport here had seen an increase of 9.4 per cent over a year before in the number of passengers during the period of April to December 2014, at 10.6 million, both domestic and international, as compared to 9.73 mn earlier. Aircraft movements, both domestic and international, rose from April to December 2014 to 93,148, compared to 90,253 during the same period of 2013, an increase of 3.2 per cent.