GMR-Fraport, the lone bidder cleared by the E Sreedharan-led group of technical experts, will be given the option to choose between the Delhi and Mumbai airports, the empowered group of ministers on Tuesday decided.
After geting the best price from GMR-Fraport for whichever airport it chooses, the bidder for the other airport will be chosen from the remaining three contenders in the frey.
According to government sources, the ministerial group has decided to broaden the criteria for the technical evaluation of bids.
If the criteria are relaxed, the bids of GMR-Fraport, Reliance-ASA (Mexico), DS Construction-Munich Airport and GVK-South African Airport are likely to qualify for financial evaluation. This leaves out Essel-TAV and the Sterlite-led consortium.
Discounting any possibility of calling fresh bids for airport privatisation, the EGoM will open the financial part of the qualified ones "in a day or two". The government remains committed to awarding the contracts by the end of this month.
"The financial bids will be opened in a day or two and the contracts will be awarded before January 31. All issues have been resolved. There will be no rebidding," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said after the two-hour meeting of the EGoM headed by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee.
According to industry sources, one of the disqualified bidders is likely to take legal recourse. Senior executives of one of the bidders likely to be left out said it will take a final call on the issue after the government comes out with its decision officially.
The EGoM met to consider a revised report from the expert committee, headed by Delhi Metro chief E Sreedhararn, on the basis of the clarification sought by the EGoM earlier this month.