BHUBANESWAR: Adani Group is reportedly keen on developing the proposed international airport at Puri. The group is among the top-three bidders, which participated in the second round discussion during the pre-bid meeting on Friday.
Apart from Adani Group, representatives of two other business conglomerates - Fairfax India Holdings Corporation and GMR Group had also participated in the pre-bid meet and evinced interest to develop the airport to be named as Sri Jagannath International Airport.
One of the biggest airport operators, Adani Group now operates airports in seven cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Jaipur. While Fairfax India owns a majority stake in Bengaluru International Airport, GMR Group operates airports in Delhi, Hyderabad and Goa.
Official sources said this was the second round of the pre-bid meeting was conducted nearly two months after Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) invited a global bid for the phase-1 construction of the airport at a cost of Rs 2,203 crore in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
“The representatives of these companies discussed with the officials of Idco and a multinational professional services firm. Several concerns, including land acquisition status, statutory approvals and future expansions were discussed,” said an official told TNIE.
The airport will have a capacity of handling 4.6 million passengers per annum (MPPA) in phase-1. The project for which the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) clearance has been obtained will be developed in three phases at an initial estimated cost of Rs 5,631 crore.
The airport will be developed in an area of around 1,164 acre. The land parcel identified by the state government included 68.81 acre of forest and 221.48 acre of private land in Sipasarubali and Sandhapur areas under Brahmagiri tehsil for which the acquisition process has already begun.
“Of the earmarked land, around 100-acre will be utilised for a multi-modal hub having all modern recreational facilities. Idco will build a four-lane access road to the airport from the existing national highway. Besides, more than 1,000 acre has been identified for future expansion of the airport,” the official added.
The construction of Puri airport is likely to be completed within three years. The bidders, however, could not be contacted for comment.