The Hindu Business Line : No decision on airports revamp issue at IMG meet

THE Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) meeting held here on Friday, to look into the modernisation and restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai airports, remained inconclusive.

The meeting was scheduled to finalise the report listing the bidders for modernisation of the two airports for consideration of the empowered Group of Ministers that is scheduled to meet here on Monday.

"No final decision could be arrived at today's meeting," a senior Government said after the meeting. Sources indicated that a decision on when the e-GoM should meet would be left to the Chairman of the Group. The six-member e-GoM is headed by the Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and includes the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, among others.

Earlier in the day, addressing an `Open house' meeting the Secretary Civil Aviation, Mr Ajay Prasad, had indicated that the process for identifying the joint venture partners for restructuring and modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airport will get underway next week.

" The empowered Group of Ministers which meets early next week will consider the technical bids and then the process of opening the financial bids will be completed within a few days. Thereafter the contracts will be awarded," Mr Prasad said.

Asked whether the Government was planning to lower the mandated high standards that the bidders had to comply with to qualify, the Secretary merely said that this was something that can be taken up by the empowered Group of Ministers. While maintaining that the Government was yet to take a decision on who was in and who was out of the race for restructuring the two metro airports, Mr Prasad emphasised that there had been total "transparency and fairness" in the process.

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