Published On:March 28 2014
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Poll panel puts on hold modernisation of 6 airports.
The modernisation of Chennai, Kolkata and four other airports has been put on hold on the recommendations of the Election Commission, Secretary, Civil Aviation, Ashok Lavasa, said.
'Till the process of elections is over, the Commission has asked us to put it (airport modernisation) on hold. We will defer the date for submission of bids till the election process is over,' Lavasa told newspersons on the sidelines of the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry. The airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Jaipur were also to be modernised with private participation.
The modernisation process began in September last year when the Government invited pre-qualification bids from private parties for managing these airports by issuing request for qualification (RFQs).
While the Government was hoping to complete the exercise before the model code of conduct came into force, it was unable to move as even the RFQ stage was not reached. There was much interest for the project, with at least nine parties, including Fraport-Saudi Arabia, GMR Airports, IL&FS Transportation Network, Celebi Havacilk Holdings, GVK, Sahara, Cochin International Airport, Essar Projects and Essel Infraprojects keen on participating in the Chennai programme.
HBL