Pre-qualification bids called for Jaipur, Ahmedabad airports

The government Saturday invited pre-qualification bids from companies which are interested in managing the Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports.

"The RFQ (request for qualification) for selection of prospective bidders for Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports has been invited," a senior official with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) told IANS.

The RFQ for the two airports follow a similar invitation for manning Chennai and Lucknow airports which was issued on September 3.

The RFQ is issued following the inter-ministerial task force recommendations for operation, management and development of select airports on public private partnership (PPP) basis.

Under the PPP model, management and operations of Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Guwahati airports will be awarded to private players for a concession period of 30 years from the AAI.

Earlier in the week, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said during the State Civil Aviation Ministers meet that the inter-ministerial task force had recommended development and management of 20 airports under the PPP model.

These airports include Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Trichy, Varanasi, Indore, Amritsar, Udaipur, Gaya, Raipur, Bhopal, Agartala, Imphal, Mangalore, and Vadodara.

According to the AAI official, a pre-bidding conference which will be held later in the month between the applicants and the AAI officials.

The RFQ will be followed with issuance of request for interest (RFI) and request for proposal (RFP).