New Delhi, January 17
The controversy raised over the possibility of the Mumbai airport modernisation being handed to the consortium led by the Reliance Group finally seems to have taken its toll with the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) apparently recommending that the modernisation of the Chattrapati Shivaji Airport be undertaken in the next round of modernisation which would also include the Kolkata and Chennai airports.

The CoS which deliberated on the recommendations of the experts committee headed by Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan was believed to have given its go ahead only for the modernisation of the Delhi airport, the bid for which was expected to go to the consortium led by the GMR group. It was said to have cleared the process for negotiations with sole shortlisted bidder, the GMR group for the Delhi airport, while recommending withholding formalities on Mumbai Airport.

Rather than scrapping the entire process and going in for a quick rebid, which was being speculated, the CoS headed by Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi has said negotiations be held with the GMR group. The committee while endorsing the disqualification of Reliance is understood to have recommended to the empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) that Mumbai Airport could be included in the next round of bids to be invited for Chennai and Kolkata airports. The modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports would have cost about Rs 5,400 crore.

After the meeting of the CoS, the eGoM met last week and sought some clarifications from the experts panel committee. They are scheduled to meet again on January 24. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had said and reiterated that the January 31 deadline would be maintained in awarding the contracts.

The CoS is also learnt to have recommended that the suggestion of the Sreedharan panel for adopting the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) route for Mumbai airport be examined by the Planning Commission in consultation with the Civil Aviation Ministry as a possible alternative for modernisation of airports.

There was apparently consensus within the CoS over taking up the Delhi airport modernisation work on priority in view of the urgency required due to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

It suggested that the Mumbai airport, along with those at Kolkata and Chennai, could be offered for fresh bidding after the bid design was reviewed to add greater objectivity and transparency and promote competition without compromising on the quality of bidders.

Suggesting that the Request for Proposal (RFP) document should be revised to promote competition, the CoS is understood to have suggested to the eGoM that recommendations of the Sreedharan panel in this regard should be considered before finalising the entire selection process for joint venture partners.

Maintaining that top-class airport developers had been missed out from the bidding process, the Sreedharan panel had recommended to the CoS a quick bid among pre-qualified bidders.