Chinese co bid lowest for civil work
KATHMANDU, SEP 14 -
China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Company has emerged as the lowest bidder for civil work under the Gautam Buddha Airport upgradation project.
China Harbour Engineering Company and a Nepali-Spanish JV Sanjose-Kalika were the second and third lowest bidders, respectively, according to a government source.
Although the lowest quotation has not been revealed, sources say the difference between the quotations of the first and second lowest bidders is around $9 million.
Other shortlisted firms were China’s Sinohydro Corporation, China Overseas Engineering Group Company and Spain’s Isolux-Corsan.
Of the $97.21-million project, the civil work package is priced at $63 million.
The civil work include construction of a new runway, exit and parallel taxiway with flexible pavements, new international aircraft parking apron with rigid pavements, rehabilitation of the existing runway for conversion to parallel taxiway, drainage system parallel to runway, taxiway and diversion of Ghaghara Khola and airport boundary, among others.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) evaluated the financial bids, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the financer, will review the bids further. The financial documents, including those of the lowest bidder, were sent to the ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines, on Friday, according to a Caan source.
“As ADB will further evaluate the documents before awarding the final work order, it is not guaranteed that the lowest bidder approved by Caan will bag the contract,” said a Caan official. “It will take at least two weeks for ADB to review the document.” An agreement will be signed with the successful bidder after negotiations are held.
The Bhairahawa-based airport is the gateway to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and it is being upgraded into a regional international airport. On Feb 26, Caan had received seven confirmed bids from among 37 firms that obtained the bid documents.
Of the total project cost, ADB will provide $58.50 million ($42.75 loan and $15.75 million grant), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) will give $15 million loan and Caan will bear the rest as counterpart funding.
The project is expected to be completed by 2017. The planned airport with a 3,000-metre runway will be able to serve 760,000 passengers annually once the first phase is completed.
In the second phase which will commence after 10 years, the airport is projected to handle up to 2 million passengers. After the airport is complete, it will be able to handle up to 6 million passengers annually. The airport will have six international parking bays.
Caan had invited bids on Nov 28, 2013, for the construction of airside and landside infrastructure and other facilities of the airport , but extended the deadline twice due to lack of resources.
The airport is termed one of the most viable projects due its potential to draw a large number of Buddhist pilgrims to Lumbini.
It will also serve as an alternative to Kathmandu ’s Tribhuvan International Airport, already strained due to heavy traffic. Due to the lack of a secondary airport, a large number of international flights are compelled to circle the sky or be diverted to Kolkata and Lucknow of India, and Dhaka of Bangladesh, among other airports, when problems arise at TIA.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
