Navi Mumbai: Eight months after it received the highest bid from GVK for building the Navi Mumbai International Airport, the Project Management and Implementation Committee (PMIC), headed by the chief secretary, approved it on October 20.
The proposal will now be forwarded to the state cabinet by October-end for final approval. With the PMIC giving its nod, the sanction from the state is said to be a mere formality.
According to Mohan Ninawe, senior public relations officer, City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), “The CIDCO evaluation committee sent a detailed report on qualified bids to the PMIC, which gave its approval for the bid made by the GVK. It was the highest bid received. The proposal will now be tabled before the state cabinet, which will meet on October 31, for final approval.”
He added that besides making the highest bid, GVK has offered a greater share in the project and the letter of intent is expected to be issued within a once the government sanction is received.
GVK, which constructed the Mumbai airport, beat GMR Airports that had constructed the Delhi airport during the bidding process. The phase 1 of the Rs16,000 crore NMIA is likely to be completed by December 2019, said CIDCO.
Sources, however, said the project is likely to be delayed because it took months to get final approval for the bids received and the opposition from the villagers, who are demanding complete resettlement before the construction begins.
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