The Karnataka government has reportedly decided to replace Maytas Infra Ltd in two greenfield airport projects at Shimoga and Gulbarga. The decision follows Maytas Infra's ownership linkage with the tainted Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
Karnataka has planned to “re-tender” the projects although how the move would be implemented was not clear till the time of going to press. Maytas was awarded the two greenfield airports in consortium with NCC Infrastructure (part of Nagarjuna Construction Group) and Austria-based Vienna International Airport (through VIE India Project Development & Holding LLC), in April last year. The total investment in the two airports is an estimated Rs 220 crore.
The southern state had notched significant success in terms of building aviation infrastructure through private participation, but the current development might slow down the overall process, it is feared.
Two other airports, at Hassan and Bijapur, have already been awarded to private sector developers, while the selection process for the Gulbarga airport is under way. The Hassan airport, awarded in August 2007 to Jupiter Aviation & Logistics Pvt. Ltd, was the first non-metro greenfield airport in Karnataka to be taken up with private entrepreneurship. In December last year, the Bijapur airport was awarded to Chennai-based Marg Ltd. Interestingly, Maytas Infra was pre-qualified for the Bijapur airport but did not submit its financial bid.
In the coming months, the Bellary airport project would be taken up for development on PPP basis. Greenfield airports have also been planned at other locations including Bidar, Karwar, Raichur, Krishnanagar etc. There is also a proposal to construct airstrips, each costing around Rs 4 crore, across 11 locations in the southern state.
Source : www.projectsmonitor.com
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