The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has sought financial and technical bids from 20 consultancy firms that have expressed
interest in its airport privatisation plan. According to sources, the bids are expected to be submitted by July 27.
AAI had recently put out an advertisement seeking legal and financial consultants to advise it on corportisation, induction of private capital into airport infrastructure and setting up of a regulatory framework for the sector.
According to AAI estimates, the expenditure on consultancy will be around Rs 40 crore, which will be borne by the authority. AAI also expects to retain the revenue accruing from the privatisation exercise through lease.
The contents of the consultancy package include the objectives of the assignment, instructions for submission of technical and financial bids, terms of reference outlining the scope and issues to be addressed by the consultants, draft consultancy agreement to be entered with the selected consultant and the bid evaluation methodology.
The selected financial consultant will work closely with AAI's designated technical staff. It will also assist consultants in the legal and technical areas. A separate exercise is on to appoint a legal consultant. The consultant is expected to estimate the revenue from the leasing out of airports and the terms of the lease.
The results of the ongoing reforms programme in establishing a legal and regulatory framework will have to be incorporated in the financial consultant's financial and sales strategies.
In the bid evaluation methodology, the areas of evaluation identified are corporate qualifications, for which the maximum points are 20 and minimum 10; approach and methodology, for which the maximum points are 30 a
