Reliance Infrastructure has emerged as the lowest bidder in an EPC tender for the construction of a greenfield airport at Hirasar in Rajkot district of Gujarat. The airport, to be located about 28 km from Rajkot, is to be built at a cost of over Rs 1,400 crore.

According to two sources, financial bids for the EPC tender floated by Airports Authority of India (AAI) were opened on August 9. The bid of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure was placed at around Rs 650 crore, as against AAI’s estimated cost of Rs 797 crore.

A Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson confirmed that the company had submitted a bid for the project. He, however, did not comment on the tender results. According to sources, L&T, Afcons, Dilip Buildcon and Gayatri Projects were among the other bidders for the project.

According to the tender documentation, the scope of work includes detailed designing, engineering, procurement and construction of a runway strip, turning pads, taxiways, apron, perimeter and other roads as well as earth work, a drainage system and fire station, among other structures. The contract also includes installation, testing and commissioning of an airfield ground lighting system, visual aids for navigation and a bird hazard reduction system.

The project is to be completed within 30 months from the date of issue of the letter of award (LoA). The contract also requires the contractor to provide operation and maintenance services for a period of two years following the commissioning of the project.

The Centre cleared the construction of Hirasar airport next to National Highway (NH-8B) connecting Ahmedabad and Rajkot, nearly 36 km from the existing Rajkot airport, in October 2017. It is planned as a single runway airport for the operation of ‘C’ category aircraft. The proposed project aims at supporting the development of trade and tourism, besides improving regional connectivity in Gujarat.

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