Navi Mumbai airport: AAI keen on stake, not to bid

Mumbai: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is interested in partnering the recently cleared Rs 10,000-crore Navi Mumbai international airport project, if the Maharashtra Government approaches it with a proposal.
The airports operator is willing to “hand-hold” through equity participation if required, but bidding for the project might not be possible at this stage as the authority has “enough work at hand”, an AAI official told Business Line.
Nevertheless, if AAI shows reluctance to invest in the airport project, the Maharashtra Government is willing to step in and pick up 13 per cent equity, said a senior official at the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO).
CIDCO is the lead developer of the project and by February 2011 it hopes to get remaining environment-related clearances and call for bids on a public-private partnership basis for the project that, after much back and forth, got a ‘green' signal from the Environment Ministry only recently.
Private players will have to invest 74 per cent equity in the project, the CIDCO official said. The responsibility of constructing and running the airport for the concession period will also rest with the private partner.
26/11/10 Shubhra Tandon/Rahul Wadke/BusinessLine

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Categories: Airports Nov 2010, New Nov 2010