AAI receives bids to manage Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports
1 min read . Updated: 16 Apr 2018, 06:29 AM IST
PremiumAirports Authority of India has received three and four bids, respectively, for the management of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports, says AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra
Mumbai: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has received three and four bids, respectively, for the management of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports after the state-run airport developer made changes to bidding conditions to make it more attractive, AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said.
“The bids will be evaluated next week," Mohapatra said in an interview on Friday, adding that the eligibility criteria of all bidders will also be evaluated before the management of operations at these airports is handed over to private firms. He didn’t name the companies.
The government’s efforts to partially privatize the Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports hit a rough patch last year after AAI’s tender for privatizing terminal operations at these airports failed to attract bidders because of the stringent terms and conditions of the contract.
Prospective bidders were reluctant to take part in the bidding then as the scope to generate revenue from only airport terminals seemed low, said another senior AAI official, on the condition of anonymity.
Issues raised by bidders included stringent performance-related monitoring parameters, a greater say in capital expenditure planning and infusion, and clarity on ownership structure, this official said, adding, “AAI has changed some of terms and conditions which potential bidders previously raised objections to."
In 2018, AAI will begin boosting capacity at several airports including Chennai, Srinagar, Pune, Dehradun, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Goa, Agartala, Guwahati, Leh, Patna, Tiruchirappalli, Vijayawada, Port Blair, Agartala, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Jabalpur.
