Philippines' Megawide, India's GMR lead bids for Manila airport expansion

MANILA (Reuters) - A consortium of the Philippines' Megawide Construction Corp and India's GMR Infrastructure Ltd has emerged as the front-runner to upgrade an airport north of Philippine capital Manila, bid authorities said on Thursday.

The expansion of Clark International Airport, one of the Philippines' busiest airports, is part of President Rodrigo Duterte's $180 billion infrastructure spending plan.

The government previously approved five bidders for the project, saying it would favour contractors that could expand the airport at the lowest cost.

The bids were made public on Thursday and showed the lowest-cost offer was from Megawide and GMR. The pair estimated the cost of a new terminal building at 9.36 billion pesos ($185.77 million), 25 percent below the government-set ceiling of 12.5 billion pesos.

The other bidders are China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd, China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd, Sinohydro Corp Ltd, and a consortium of Tokwing Construction Corp and China Machinery Engineering Corp.

"All the financial bids that were opened today will be subjected to further review, evaluation and verification," Joshua Bingcang, chairman of the Special Bids and Awards Committee, told reporters.

The expansion will ease congestion at a perennially over-stretched airport from which flights frequently run late. Construction is scheduled to begin later this month, with commercial operations starting in 2020.

The Philippines has one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The government is overhauling the country's ageing infrastructure to create jobs, boost competitiveness and attract foreign firms.

Duterte has promised to usher in a golden age of infrastructure and is seeking foreign investment to modernise and build airports, roads, railways and ports.

($1 = 50.3850 Philippine pesos)

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Christopher Cushing)