New Delhi: So is it wrong to say that the Indian government has agreed to let Singapore's Changi airport operate and manage Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports? Under intense Opposition fire for bypassing the tender route to award O&M contract for these two airports directly to a Singapore entity through a government-to-government (G2G) agreement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation was on fire fighting mode today.
Secretary RN Choubey said "it is possible that Changi decides that the procurement of some services at the two airports should be done via a tender. Let the team come and more details will emerge".
The Congress and the Left parties have created an uproar over an initial MoU between India and Singapore which allows that country to nominate an agency for taking the O&M contract for the two Indian airports for a fee. Till now, any private participation in airport modernisation has always been done through a global tender where the Airports Authority of India invites bids.
Despite the disclaimer by Choubey, it is possible that the O&M contract for these two airports sees no bidding at all. Changi has demonstrable expertise in airport management and the two Indian airports it will Associate with were earlier going to be privatised through the PPP mode. This would have meant private parties could pick up equity stakes in the Airports and taken them on long lease, working out some sort of revenue sharing arrangement with AAI.
30/12/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/F.Business
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Secretary RN Choubey said "it is possible that Changi decides that the procurement of some services at the two airports should be done via a tender. Let the team come and more details will emerge".
The Congress and the Left parties have created an uproar over an initial MoU between India and Singapore which allows that country to nominate an agency for taking the O&M contract for the two Indian airports for a fee. Till now, any private participation in airport modernisation has always been done through a global tender where the Airports Authority of India invites bids.
Despite the disclaimer by Choubey, it is possible that the O&M contract for these two airports sees no bidding at all. Changi has demonstrable expertise in airport management and the two Indian airports it will Associate with were earlier going to be privatised through the PPP mode. This would have meant private parties could pick up equity stakes in the Airports and taken them on long lease, working out some sort of revenue sharing arrangement with AAI.
30/12/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/F.Business
