Airport bid panel given more teeth

The committee of secretaries headed by cabinet secretary B K Chaturvedi will have powers to suggest changes in the modalities adopted in different stages of bidding in privatising Delhi and Mumbai airports.

"The committee will look in all steps, starting from the request for proposal stage. It will also suggest changes in the methods adopted by the government so far," said a senior government official.

According to him, the decision to set up the committee of secretaries was taken after rejecting a proposal to appoint an independent outside agency to review the process and the report of the technical advisor.

The other members of the five-member committee are civil aviation secretary Ajai Prasad, economic affairs secretary A K Jha, law ministry secretary R L Meena and planning commission secretary R R Shah.

Government sources further said that the committee will also seek views of the bidders about the steps taken so far in the airports privatisation process.

The committee can also ask the technical advisor - Air Plan of Australia - to undertake a fresh evaluation of the bids if required, civil aviation ministry sources said on Thursday.

As a result of the differences within the IMG, the EGoM, which met in New Delhi  on Wednesday, had decided to defer its decision on choosing the successful technical bids.

Gajendra Haldea, the planning commission's representative in an inter-ministerial group, which met last week and gave its recommendations to the EGoM, submitted a dissent note calling for cancellation of all bids and inviting fresh bidding.

According to government sources, Haldea has also raised questions on the parameters that will be followed in the financial bid stage.

Meanwhile, the Left parties are expected to raise the issue of privatisation and modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports and the steps taken by the government so far in the next UPA co-ordination committee meeting. The Left parties are expected to call for scrapping of the privatisation of the two airports.

The civil aviation ministry has shortlisted six consortia - those led by Reliance, the Sterlite group, GMR, GVK, the Essel group and DS Construction - for technical evaluation.

Originally, nine consortia had shown interest in the project. Three of them - the Bharti group, DLF and L&T-Pirmal - later dropped out of the race. The government had rejected Videocon's bid at the pre-bid evaluation stage itself.

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Decision taken after rejecting a proposal to appoint an independent outside agency to review the process and the report of the technical advisor.

The five member committee to include secretaries from civil aviation, economic affairs, law, and plan panel.