GVK to build Navi Mumbai airport, pips GMR in race

Mumbai: The GVK group, which runs the Mumbai airport, on Monday won the contract to build the much-delayed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), pipping the rival GMR group. [caption id=“attachment_2663816” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has beaten the rival GMR Infrastructure that runs the nation’s largest airport in Delhi to win the bid to develop the Rs 16,000-crore airport in Navi Mumbai, the metropolis satellite-town and a fast-emerging financial hub. The contract award comes decades after the state government first mooted the project. “While GMR offered 10.44 percentage of revenue share, GVK has offered 12.60 percentage of revenue share, thus winning the bid,” Cidco said in a statement. The evaluation committee will prepare a report on qualified bids, which will be sent to the state Cabinet for its approval that will take a final call on selection of the bidder, the statement added. GVK operates the Mumbai airport while GMR handles the Delhi airport. The two companies earlier on Monday submitted their bids to the City and Industrial and Development Corporation (Cidco) after the authority granted two extensions. The government approved building the Navi Mumbai airport as early as 2007, but the project ran into inordinate delay arising out of environmental concerns and land acquisition issues. The project will be carried out on a public-private partnership model and Cidco will incur pre-development work costs, which it will be later recovered from GVK.