`Shortlisting of contractors proves AAI unready'

Panaji: Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar on Monday said that the Airport Authority of India's (AAI) recent advertisement for shortlisting contractors for the Dabolim airport expansion project proved that it was not ready to float a tender for the purpose.
"The people of the state have been taken for a ride. The AAI is not ready to receive quotations. If the government and the AAI were prepared, they would have floated a tender for the airport's expansion," Parrikar said.
"They are not prepared. They are yet to get land from the navy and the technicalities have not been completed. You need not call for shortlisting of contractors if you are ready. However, by going through this process, they have proved that they are not," the opposition leader said.
When contacted, AAI director Paul Manickam said that calling for shortlisting of contractors was a normal process. "It was also done when the first tender was issued," he said.
The scrapping of the first tender had kicked off a row with Parrikar blaming the government for its failure to monitor the project and letting it slip through its hands.
24/11/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009