Reuters
NEW DELHI, Feb 1: An Indian ministerial panel awarded GMR-Fraport AG the contract to revamp Delhi's airport while a group led by GVK Industries was chosen for Mumbai airport, Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
GVK Industries were awarded the work in a consortium with the Airports Company of South Africa.
The Air Force was ready to handle civilian air traffic control as protesting airport workers threatened to strike after the government opened bids on Tuesday to privatise the airports.
Security at the airports was stepped up amid bitter protests by union members opposed to the plan to sell majority stakes to private companies to modernise them.
Hundreds of policemen guarded the offices of India's civil aviation ministry as the bids were opened.
Earlier, gGroups led by Reliance Airport Developers Ltd and GVK Industries Ltd emerged as the highest bidders for the revamp of the airports.
In Delhi, the highest bidder was a consortium led by Reliance Airport Developers Ltd, Reliance Energy Ltd and Aeropuertos Servicious Auxilliare of Mexico.
The consortium, led by Anil Ambani, offered to share 46 percent revenue with the government.
For Mumbai's airport, the country's largest, a consortium led by GVK Industries Ltd and Airports Company of South Africa emerged as the top bidder. It offered to share 38.7 per cent revenue with the government, a government official said.
The financial bids were handed to an empowered group of ministers who took a decision to award the contracts.
An official said that India's GMR group, which has a tie-up with Germany's Fraport AG, had offered to match Reliance's top bid for the work in New Delhi.
The controversial process of privatising the country's two busiest but shabby airports has been opposed by the coalition government's communist allies, who provide key support in Parliament, and workers who fear job losses.
Both want the revamp to be carried out by the state.
Several potential bidders, including international players, have walked out of the process, saying the government's evaluation parameters were too high.
The Congress-led coalition government wants to use private cash to modernise and manage the two run-down international hubs that are struggling to cope with India's surging growth in air travel.
The government received six bids to modernise the airport in Mumbai and five for the Delhi terminals.
The government had sought a clarification from a high-powered panel set up to evaluate the technical bids submitted by several companies.
An estimated 19 million domestic passengers passed through India's airports in the year to March 2005. Analysts predict growth rates of 20 percent a year over the next five years as rising incomes and lower fares make air travel more affordable.