Adani group win bids to operate Mangaluru airport along with five other airports for 50 years
New Delhi, Feb 25: The Adani group has won the bid to operate for 50 years five out of six airports that were put for privatisation by the central government, a senior Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said Monday.
The Adanis were the highest bidder for the Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Mangaluru and Jaipur airports, the official said, adding the bid for the Guwahati airport will be opened on Tuesday.
The AAI chose the winner on the basis of "per-passenger fee" offered by the bidders. The five airports would be handed over to the Adani group after completion of formalities, the AAI official said.
The official said the bids put by the Adani group were "very aggressive" as compared to others.
The AAI said in a press statement that, as per passenger fee, the Adani group put in a bid of Rs 177, Rs 174, Rs 171, Rs 168 and Rs 115 for airports at Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru, respectively.
The per passenger fee would be paid by the Adani group to the AAI.
The GMR Airports Limited -- which operates the Delhi and the Hyderabad airports -- put in a bid of Rs 85, Rs 69, Rs 63, Rs 63 and Rs 18 for the five airports, as per AAI statement.
For the Ahmedabad and the Jaipur airports, the second highest bid was put jointly by the 'National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Zurich Airport International Ag" at Rs 146 and Rs 155, respectively, according to the AAI statement.
For the Lucknow airport, "AMP Capital (GIF II Lux Holdco) 5 LP" was the second highest bidder at Rs 139. For the Thiruvananthapuram airport, the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) was the second highest bidder as it quoted Rs 135.
For Mangaluru airport, the Cochin International Airport Limited was the second highest bidder at Rs 45, according to the AAI statement.
The other companies that had put in the bid for the six airports were Autostrade Indian Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, PNC Infratech Ltd and I-investment Ltd.
A total of 32 technical bids were received from 10 companies to operate six airports that are currently under AAI's management.
In November last year, the government had cleared a proposal for managing six AAI-run airports on public-private partnership (PPP) basis.
The Ahmedabad and the Jaipur airports received seven bids each while the Lucknow and the Guwahati received six bids each. Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram received three bids each.
The move to manage the six airports on the PPP basis, according to the AAI, is part of an initiative to provide world-class infrastructure and services to stakeholders.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
