Tender process for airport stuck

Mumbai Well over two months after the state government approved the formal paperwork to be issued to private players interested in bidding for the Navi Mumbai International Airport project, and nine months since the draft masterplan for the proposed greenfield airport was okayed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, there has been no progress in inviting bids for the crucial infrastructure project.
The tender process is now stuck amid differing opinions between bureaucrats at the Centre and the state, with the Steering Committee under the Secretary for Civil Aviation in New Delhi questioning whether it is even the correct body to give a final green signal to the Request for Qualification (RFQ) documents.
Though the Steering Committee met recently and was given a presentation on the RFQ by officials of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the state government agency that is the nodal body for the proposed airport, members of the committee reportedly felt that the state government could give the final go-ahead to the RFQ documents at its level. “The members’ opinion was that under the greenfield airports policy, the final nod for the RFQ documents should be given by the state government,” said T C Benjamin, Principal Secretary (Urban Development).
The matter has now reverted to the Centre with state bureaucrats pointing out that a Cabinet decision had empowered the Central Steering Committee to take the final decision on the bid documents before they are issued. “The Union government will have to take a decision on whether the state can okay the RFQ,” Benjamin said.
02/03/12 Kavitha Iyer/Express India

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Categories: airports Mar 2012, New Mar 2012