The Hindu Business Line : Bharti keen on Mumbai, Delhi airports modernisation project

IMAGINE getting off from a long flight and finding that your bags reached the terminal belt before you. Or finding comfortable lounges, interactive television sets, free Internet kiosks, a shopping area to beat all others and even a gymnasium. In short, a world class airport.

Changi Airport, which has bid along with Bharti and DLF for modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports, offers these facilities at Singapore.

In an informal interaction with visiting Indian journalists, the Joint Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, Mr Rajan Bharti Mittal, said that the consortium is keen to take up the project in either of the two cities.

"With the kind of expertise we have, it is irrelevant whether we get Delhi or Mumbai. We were quite keen on Delhi. But having said that, we have also seen Mumbai and feel that we should participate in the process in both of them," Mr Mittal said.

He, however, added that the consortium would not be interested in bidding for the development of non-metro airports, if they are unsuccessful in their bids for participating in the development of the metro airports.

"We are clear in having one of the anchor airports. If we do not get (a metro airport), it is highly unlikely that we will partake in any other project. The idea is to start with a big bang," Mr Mittal said.

Officials added that currently, both Mumbai and Delhi airports are the same. "Today, if you see revenues, then Mumbai is a little higher than Delhi. Last year, Delhi had grown about 23 per cent, while Mumbai had grown by about 14 per cent. On the revenue side, they will be pretty much on the same growth pattern," officials added.

However, with the bidding process at a delicate stage, officials were tight-lipped on their exact plans. The Chairman of Changi Airport Management Partners (CHAMP), Mr Boon Swan Foo, said that building and maintaining a world-class airport is an on-going thing.

"It is a continuous process. You need to continue to excite and to upgrade. That is the challenge. You are a world class airport today but the challenge is how to remain a world-class airport every day," Mr Boon said.

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