The Uttar Pradesh government has modified the bidding terms and conditions for preparing a comprehensive project report, bid document and a concession agreement for the development of the international airport at Kushinagar.
This will also include the development of the Buddhist Circuit in the PPP mode on a design-build-finance-operate- transfer (DBFOT) basis.
Besides, the last date for the consultants to submit Request for Qualification (RFQ)/Proposal for Proposal (RFP) document has also been extended to October 10.
“We have made some changes in the bidding terms to make it more attractive for the reputed consultancies to evince interest,” a senior tourism department official told Business Standard.
Now, the technical bids would be opened and evaluated on October 10. The financial bids of the qualifying firms would be opened on October 11. Only one consultancy firm had submitted its document last month, which came as a surprise for the tourism department.
State tourism Director General Sushil Kumar said, “The feedback that we got from some consultants was that since, it was an international project, they would like to bid jointly with foreign firms. They wanted more time to seal an alliance and then bid.”
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He said the tourism department wanted a healthy competition in the interest of the project. “The state government already owns about 160 hectares of land in Kushinagar for the airport and more would be acquired depending upon the report of the consultant,” he added.
The proposed international airport will directly connect Japan, Myanmar, Korea, China, Thailand, Bhutan and Sri Lanka with Kushinagar, since these countries account for the maximum number of tourists in the Buddhist Circuit.
Although, the circuit comprising Sarnath, Kushinagar, Sankisa Kaushambi, Shravasti and Kapilvastu attracts pilgrims from all over the world, especially Japan and South-east Asian countries, the immense potential of the circuit is yet to be discovered due to the government apathy and lack of infrastructure facilities.
The consultants will have to adhere to the ASI norms while preparing the blueprint for setting up of the international airport and development of the Buddhist Circuit.
The consultants would prepare an action plan for the development of an international-level tourist infrastructure in the Circuit to increase tourist flow and boost local economy.