Eight bidders for airports consultant job

New Delhi: The International Air Transport Association, the global consulting group KPMG and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India are among the eight bidders in the fray for the role of consultants for conducting pre-feasibility study on which of the 326 non-operational airports and airstrips around the country can be made operational again.

Official sources told Business Line that KPMG has tied up with Mott MacDonald while Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has joined hands with Zabir 2005 of Spain for carrying out the study.

The study is to be conducted on airports and airstrips that are either privately owned or with State governments, the Army or Indian Air Force. The consultants report is expected to list out the investment needed in terms of land and other assets, apart from suggesting a road-map for development and methodology to be adopted for providing air connectivity in a phased manner.

The airports include at least 35 in South India, including Arakkonam, Ramnad, Cholavaram, Chettinad, Kayattar and Neyveli in Tamil Nadu; Bellary, Ammasandra, Bidar, Hospet, Gulbarga, Jakur, Kolar and Yelahanka in Karnataka and Adilabad, Aleru, Dundigal, Hakimpet and Nagarjuna Sagar in Andhra Pradesh.

The completion and implementation of the study will help implement the Government plan of having an airport grid around the country so that no passenger is more than 50 km away from an airport.