| The government has started evaluating the technical and financial bids submitted by the six consortia led by Reliance, Essel, Sterlite, DS Consortium, GMR and GVK, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel said on Sunday. |
| He added that the government would not bow to any pressure or conditions put forward by any of the individual bidders for the proposed airport-restructuring project. |
| "We cannot oblige to whims and fancies of any individual bidders for the modernisation programme. We had hired global consultants and experts to script the document for the programme and there will not be any change from that," he said. |
| Referring to the proposed strike of airport employees on September 29 to protest against the modernisation programme, the minister said the government has appealed to them to refrain from the strike. |
| "The airports modernisation will not snatch away any job. |
| On the contrary, it will create more jobs in the aviation sector. Other non-metro airports will also benefit from the modernisation of these two airports with the rise in volume of business," he said. |
| When asked about the suggestion of the Parliament standing committee to set up greenfield airports in Mumbai and Delhi, Patel declined to comment but added that the government is firm on its stand to restructure the two major airports. |
| Patel said the aviation sector in India is expected to log 25 per cent growth in the next five years and witness an investment of US$ 30 billion. |
| "The government is also planning to upgrade 30 non-metro airports at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore. We are looking at an integrated development with cargo-handling facilities," he said. |
| As part of enhancing cargo-handling facilities, Indian Airlines is planning to convert its five aircraft to freighters, while Air India is also planning to convert its old aircraft to similar carriers. |
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