4 global firms in race for Navi Mumbai airport

The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the township and industrial infrastructure arm of the Maharashtra government, has shortlisted four international consultants to prepare the roadmap for its ambitious Rs 9,000 crore Mumbai international airport project. It expects to complete the tendering process by the mid-2009.

Speaking with Business Standard, a senior CIDCO official said, "We expect to select the project consultant by this month-end or early next month, who will then prepare the detailed project report. The first technical bids would be floated on the basis of the report and those short-listed would be asked to submit the financial bids. We expect to complete this process by 2009."

The consultants who have been shortlisted include Scott & Wilson from England, Maun Senn from Singapore, Louis Burger from the US and another US-based company Mott Mc'Donald. While Scott & Wilson developed the Brussels, Belgrade and Dublin airports, Louis Burger has taken part in developing Egypt's national airport at Cairo, Bogota airport and Mexico City airport. Maun Senn has Been involved in developing the airports of Houston, Philadelphia and expansion programmes of JFK airport of New York.

Mott Mc-Donald has overseen the expansion and modernisation of Frankfurt, Detroit and Los Angles airports.

The international airport at Navi Mumbai is likely to become operational in 2012. It will generate traffic of around 10 million passengers in the first year itself and the number will reach 50 million by 2030. The developer will thus have an average internal rate of return amounting to nearly 17.5 per cent.

The Navi Mumbai airport Project, which is a greenfield airport project, will be spread over nearly 2050 hectares and have two parallel runways. Out of the total area, CIDCO already possesses 1,150 hectares, around 450 hectares belongs to other government agencies and the process of acquiring the remaining land has started, he pointed out.

CIDCO expects to pick up 26 per cent equity in the project in lieu of land in the special purpose vehicle, which will be created to develop the airport.