Three qualified bidders for development of Navi Mumbai airport pull out from bidding process

According to reports, three companies – GMR Infrastructure, MIA Infrastructure (joint venture [JV] of Vinci Concessions and Tata Realty & Infrastructure) and the Hiranandani Group – which were shortlisted for developing the Navi Mumbai airport have pulled out of the project and will not be submitting their financial bids. Consequently, GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited is now the only qualified bidder for project implementation. Long unresolved issues such as the incomplete resettlement of families from the area, lack of pre-development works and issues with the bid document are being cited as reasons for the same. Besides, the firms believe that the 42-month time stipulated to complete the project is too short. The project is yet to receive Stage 2 clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Further, one of the contracts for pre-development works has been awarded to a GVK JV which is a conflict of interest. The three firms believe that given the conditions imposed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) regarding its share in project, the financing of the project becomes complicated, thus impacting the long-term viability of the concessionaire.