Tata, S'pore's Changi to jointly bid for airport rejig

The Tata Group and Singapore's Changi Airports International have agreed to jointly bid for the modernisation works of airports at Chennai and Kolkata as also vie for similar projects in non-metro airports.

"We are partnering with the Tatas to get the contracts for modernisation work in Kolkata and Chennai airports", Ng Tim Peng, Vice President (India), Changi Airports International, said.

While the Tatas will hold a controlling 51% stake in the joint venture company, Changi would own the rest, he said, adding that "we are open to other partners with the right skills and expertise joining us in this venture".

No final decision has yet been taken by the central government on the course of modernising these two metro airports, though the West Bengal government has opined that Kolkata airport should be developed by the Airports Authority of India, while Tamil Nadu government favours the public-private partnership route.

This is the second time the Tatas are entering the aviation sector in the recent past. Earlier, the Indian conglomerate had tied up with the Singapore Airline to bid for flag carrier Air-India when it was proposed to be privatised, but the process failed to take off.

Incidentally, it was the Tatas who had floated the airline in 1932. Then known as Tata Airlines, it was nationalised by the government subsequently.

"At present, we are concentrating on Kolkata and Chennai (airports modernisation)", Peng said in reply to questions, but added that the JV firm planned to bid for city-side development of 35 non-metro airports as well.