By Aparajita Gupta and Sanjay Singh, IANS,
Kolkata/New Delhi : The process to revamp the Kolkata airport was put on the fast track Monday with the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) inviting financial bids from eight short-listed parties. The bids will be opened June 23.
The upgrade of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is expected to cost some $500 million in the first phase and take its passenger handling capacity from 4.9 million to around 25 million per year, officials said.
Some big names in the business, including consortia led by Canada’s Herve Pomerleu, Turkey’s Tav Tepe Akfen, Hong Kong’s CSCHK-Soma and Britain’s Laing O Rourke-Simple Infrastructure are in the fray.
Four of these consortia submitted their bids Monday, including Indian engineering giant Larsen and Toubro and ITD Cem, an Italian-Thai infrastructure development company. The other four are expected to do so shortly, officials said.
“After verification, the price bids would be opened on June 23. Only one agency will be awarded the tender,” S.P.S. Bakshi, executive director for projects with AAI, told IANS in Kolkata.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will clear the final name, officials engaged with the process in the national capital added.
The upgrade proposal was put on fast track after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee met the prime minister in New Delhi May 30 and sought quick clearance of the modernisation project.
The same day, the Public Investment Board gave its unconditional nod to the project, which includes a new integrated building, which alone could cost Rs.16 billion, officials said.
“The construction is expected to be completed in 30 months and the process of development is expected to be over by 2011,” an AAI official in New Delhi added.
The agency had conducted a global architectural design competition for the terminals to make the airport a world-class one that could handle about 20-25 million passengers annually.
The modernisation includes extension of the second runway, construction of rapid exit taxiways, installation of navigation and surveillance systems, and setting up a new integrated terminal building.
The existing international terminal has a capacity of 882,000 passengers and the present domestic terminal has a capacity of 4.06 million passengers. The new integrated passenger terminal will add a capacity of 20 million passengers.
The government also has two more phases of expansion planned for the airport – taking the annual passenger handling capacity to 39.32 million in the first stage and to 56.13 million thereafter, officials explained.