Accusations fly as call for bids for Nijgadh airport delayed
KATHMANDU, FEB 04 -
The Investment Board (IB) said it had not been able to call global tenders for the construction of a second international airport at Nijgadh, Bara as the National Panning Commiss-ion’s (NPC) Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) committee had not given its go-ahead.
The NPC, however, has passed the buck to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) saying that it could not do anything as it had not given its opinion. The ministry, for its part, said it had already sent its opinion to the BOOT committee. A high-level source close to the IB said it had not been able to call for global bids as it had not received a formal approval from the committee with regard to the modality.
The MoTCA had sent a detailed feasibility study (DFS) report conducted by Korea’s Landmark Worldwide Company (LMW) to the BOOT committee, headed by NPC vice-chairman Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, to enable it to take a decision on the matter. But Kshetry said it was not enough to reach a decision, and has sought the opinion of the ministry regarding the issue. He insisted that the committee had not yet received the MoTCA’s opinion even though the ministry said that they had already sent it.
The second international airport (SIA) project had stirred back to life after 21 months in hibernation following the MoTCA and the IB’s agreement to develop it through open global bidding. In April 2012, LMW had submitted the DFS to the Tourism Ministry. The company had conducted the study at a cost of US$ 3.55 million. The government had awarded the contract to carry out the DFS to LMW on March 8, 2010.
Since then, the airport plan had languished on the back burner after the ministry failed to decide whether the project should be handed over to LMW or be developed through open bidding. However, the government had decided to go for open bidding to invite developers for the project.
Previously, the Tourism Ministry had recommended two options for awarding the contract for the project. The first was request for proposal (RFP) which is based on the selection process, and the second was based on the BOOT Act Section 9 which says that a project can be awarded directly to any interested investor. The BOOT Act says that the Rs 2-billion project can be awarded directly to any investor without calling for RFPs.
The second option was recommended with the aim of assisting LMW which had been showing an interest in constructing the project since 2007. The Tourism Ministry had also pledged to give due priority to the company before it was selected to do the DFS. Officials said that LMW could also participate in the global bidding, and that it would get back the money it spent on the DFS if it fails to win the global bid.
About two months ago, the IB had announced it would open a global tender at the earliest after agreeing to develop the project accordingly. IB sources said that it would prepare the bidding document while waiting for the decision of the BOOT committee. “With assistance from national and international experts, we will prepare a global tender within a month so that we can issue the document immediately after the BOOT committee gives its nod,” said Radhesh Pant, chief executive of the IB. He added a group of international experts would be hired to review the DFS submitted by LMW. “Once the review is completed and the tender document is finalized, the board will finalize the date to call global bids.”
IB sources claimed two Indian companies, GMR Infrastructure and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), had shown interest to construct the airport project. Other companies from Germany, France and Singapore have also expressed interest in the SIA.
According to the report, the estimated cost of the first phase of the project is US$ 650 million. The SIA will cover 3,000 hectares of land. LMW’s study said the proposed airport could handle 15 million passengers until 2030 and even accommodate the super jumbo Airbus A380 after the first phase of construction.
The proposed airport apron has 15 stands for international carriers, four stands for domestic and two for cargo flights. The first passenger terminal has an area of 75,500 sq m, six boarding gates, 34 check-in counters, six security inspection counters, 35 immigration counters, eight customs inspection counters and six baggage claim counters.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
