Bids open for developing Rs. 15,000-cr Jewar airport.

Companies that have experience in executing projects in the airport, real estate or core infrastructure sector, those who have executed projects worth more than Rs. 10,000 crore in the last 10 years and have a minimum net worth of Rs. 1,250 crore at the close of the preceding financial year will be allowed to participate in the bids to develop Jewar airport, on the outskirts of Delhi.

Four phases

The total project cost of the airport is estimated at Rs. 15,000 crore. The airport is to be developed in four phases and is expected to start operations in fiscal 2023.

The bid document, which was made public on Thursday, states that the concession period for the airport is 40 years with the provision that it can be extended for another 30 years.

Apart from per passenger revenue, the winning bidder will have to pay a licence fee to obtain the right for the site of the project. NOIDA International Airport Ltd, the company that will operate the airport, will have a golden share in the Special Purpose Vehicle which will be formed for the development of the airport. The golden share will give the Authority veto rights in the SPV’s key decisions such as a change in the memorandum of company, or its Article of Association and divestment of equity among others.

October 30 has been set as the last date for submission of bids while the last date for purchasing the bid has been set 15 days prior to that. While the technical bids will be opened on November 6, the financial bids will be opened on November 29.

The airport is planned to be built on 1,334 hectares of land, will have two runways and will be designed for Code F operations. A Code F is capable of handling the world’s largest civilian aircraft, the Airbus A-380 which is capable of carrying up to 550 passengers on every flight.

In the first phase, the airport is expected to cater to 5 million passengers which may go up to 16 million by fiscal 2030 and reach 71 million passengers by fiscal 2044.

HBL