A group comprising Bechtel of the U.S. and Dubai's airport operator Dnata is expected to be among the bidders for the new Hyderabad airport in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, according to a state official.
The bidding deadline is December 4 and the winner is expected to be announced by March. The Emirates Group subsidiary Dnata and Bechtel Enterprises International were among the six consortia invited to a pre-bid orientation by Andhra Pradesh.
The other five are India's Reliance Industries, a consortium comprising Ashok Leyland and British Aerospace, another led by ABB Airport Technologies, one with Zurich Real Estate and Siemens, and CMR Vasavi with a couple of Malaysian majors.
The build-operate-own airport will be built on 5,000 acres at a cost of Rs50 billion based on current estimates. It is expected to be completed in six years. A holding company will be set up in which the winning consortium will hold 74 per cent and the rest shared equally by the federal and Andhra Pradesh governments.
"About 1,300 acres have been appropriated for the greenfield project. The government contribution will be in the form of land value," said R.C. Sinha, special chief secretary to the Andhra Pradesh government.
The state is projecting capital investments of Rs400 billion for infrastructure projects by 2004. By 2020 they will rise to about Rs16 trillion. "We are looking at ways in which UAE contractors can participate in these projects. It could be through build-operate-transfer or some other variant, joint ventures, or they could provide the investments and technology," Sinha said.
In addition to a 1,200-kilometre road network, there are two private ports in Machchlipatnam and Gangavaran, a free trade zone between Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada, and a new planned city, "Cyberabad".
The "Equipment Park" for secondhand construction machinery, which can be leased or sold to Indian contractors, has made progress, the official said. Five acres have been marked for it.
