Leading infrastructure company Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd (TRIL), that was widely speculated to be participating in the bidding process for Chennai airport privatisation, has decided to opt out of the project. They have cited reasons of ineligibility for abstaining from bidding for the project.
Owing to some conditions mentioned in the RFQ (request for qualification) document, TRIL cannot bid for the Chennai airport privatisation project, said a spokesperson of the company.
Three months ago, AAI initiated the process to privatise six airports in the country including the Chennai airport and issued the RFQ. While quite a few air passengers have already voiced their preference for a privatised airport in Chennai in anticipation of better facilities, members of Airports Authority Employees’ Union (AAEU) have been constantly protesting the move to privatise the airport.
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Tata Sons recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore Airline to start an airline in India in which the former will hold 51 per cent stake.
“The company must have decided to opt out because the RFQ states that the company should not have more than 10 per cent equity in an airline,” said an official of Airports Authority of India (AAI).
“We cannot comment over Tata Sons’ decision to not partake in this process since it concerns the eligibility criteria. On January 7, the bidders, about 13 of them, will have to submit their profiles,” said a member of the Key Infrastructure Development (KID) Cell, a group formed to speed up the privatisation process.
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“There has been a delay in the privatisation process because the bidders have sought more time; they wanted to tie up with other airport operators and bid for this project as a joint venture,” he said.