MIAL to bid for new Navi Mumbai airport

Mumbai: International Airport (MIAL), which operates Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, has decided to bid for the city’s second airport, which is coming up at Panvel in Navi Mumbai.
MIAL , a consortium led by Bangalore-based GVK Industries, has the first right of refusal if its bid for the new airport is up to 10% lower than the highest offer.
“We will certainly bid for the second airport in Navi Mumbai and confident of winning it too,” said MIAL managing director GV Sanjay Reddy, who is also vice-chairman of GVK Industries.
It is not yet clear whether MIAL will bid alone or as a partner of an alliance. MIAL is a joint venture between the GVK Group, Airports Company South Africa & Bidvest and the government-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI). Mr Reddy’s statement comes at a time when the decks have been cleared for the Navi Mumbai Airport.
MIAL is currently reviewing the project area in Panvel and a review report is likely to be prepared before the bid is put in, said an official with the consortium. “We are keenly monitoring issues like environment and defence approvals.
Our team, which did a reece of the area, found that the project is situated in the midst of hills, marshy land and needs to be filled before the actual construction starts,” he said, requesting anonymity.
The greenfield airport is expected to be ready by 2013, and will serve as the gateway to the special economic zones (SEZs) at Navi Mumbai and Maha Mumbai. The total investment for the new airport is estimated at around Rs 9,000 crore.
06/05/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports May 2009, New May 2009