After a delay of one-and-a-half decades, the Navi Mumbai international airport project is finally on track. On Monday, the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) won the bid for the Rs 16,000 crore project, offering a 12.6% share in revenue to the nodal agency, Cidco, which is executing the project. The only rival in the fray was GMR Group, which offered 10.44%. Cidco will now forward the bid to the project management implementation committee, headed by the state chief secretary. The state cabinet will then take a call on finalizing the bid. The state is expected to conclude the process by the month-end or early March. MIAL, of which the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a partner, had earlier redeveloped the domestic and international airport terminals at Santacruz and Sahar and currently operates the Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport. The GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) on Monday won the bid for the Rs 16,000 crore Navi Mumbai international airport project.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said last year that the first flight from the airport would take off by the end of 2019, but experts said several issues still needed to be worked out. A senior GVK official who did not wish to be named said, “There is a lot of work to be done and it will be tough. But we hope to meet the 2019 deadline.“ R K Jain, CEO of MIAL, told TOI, “We are happy, but the road ahead will be full of challenges.“ The GVK group had been given the first right of refusal by Cidco as they operate the local city airports, and in case their bid came within 10% of the best one, they could still lay claim to the bid.
