After dispute with developers,AAI reworks airport tender

The city-side development of non-metro airports had run into trouble after developers were denied the right to develop the terminal side. While air-side development of airports had taken place at most of the cities,the policies related to city-side development were re-assessed by the AAI,the Planning Commission and other stakeholders.

So far,the AAI has been only able to bid out the city-side development of Amritsar and Udaipur airports,where no progress took place in the last eight months,and finally the bids were cancelled as terms and conditions as stipulated by the concessionaire agreement were not acceptable to the bidders. The AAI wanted to give out the commercial operations outside the terminal to a private bidder,whereas bidders wanted not only commercial operations but also the terminal-side development.

Earlier,25-30 expressions of interest were received by the AAI for modernisation of these two non-metro airports,of which it had shortlisted six. However,the bids were never carried out. The AAI,meanwhile,is undertaking modernisation on its own.

There are several minor issues like exploitation of surrounding land and the role of state government which need to be resolved.

The AAI had been entrusted with the task of upgradation and expansion of 35 non-metro airports,and modernising the metro airports at Kolkata and Chennai by the Prime Minister’s Committee on Infrastructure. The authority was to carry out airside work,including construction of terminal buildings.