Tendering process for Navi Mumbai airport to start soon

The civil aviation ministry has approved the master plan of the Navi Mumbai airport and the requests for qualification (RQF) for construction of the airport is likely to be invited by the end of this month.

Bids are expected to be received by August, and once the RQF and subsequent tendering processes are over, construction work on the first phase of the airport should start early next year, Maharashtra urban development secretary T C Benjamin said today.

"We will float the RFQ by the month-end and bids will be invited by August," Benjamin told reporters here today.

The steering committee of the civil aviation ministry will meet some time next month to discuss the plan, he said.
 
If everything goes as planned, Benjamin expects construction work for the airport to start early next year.
 
The project, estimated to cost about Rs8,722 crore, will be implemented in four phases, through the private-public-partnership route, Benjamin said.

The first phase of the airport is likely to be functional by 2014 and the remaining three phases by 2017, 2025 and 2031, respectively.

The project has been delayed due to opposition by green concerns. The ministry of environment and forests, however, granted clearance to the project last year.
 
The civil aviation ministry gave its approval to the airport's master plan last month.
 
The state urban development ministry, meanwhile, discussed a concept plan for construction of a ring road around the airport. State chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad inaugurated a conference and workshop called 'European Reflections on Infrastructure projects in Mumbai', which saw presentations by professionals from France, Luxembourg, Holland and Belgium.