Mah govt may invite RFQ for Navi Mumbai airport by June-end

Mumbai : Maharashtra Government is likely to invite 'Request For Qualification' (RFQ) for the construction of the Navi Mumbai airport by month-end, whose master plan was approved recently. "We will float the RFQ by the month-end and bids will be invited by August," Maharashtra Urban Development Secretary, T C Benjamin, told reporters here today. The Steering Committee of Civil Aviation Ministry will meet some time next month to discuss the plan, he said.

Benjamin also expressed hope that the construction work for the first phase of the new airport will start early next year. Notwithstanding opposition by the green activists, the Environment and Forests Ministry had granted clearance to the much-delayed project last November. Last month, the Steering Committee of the Civil Aviation Ministry gave its approval to the airport's master plan, clearing the last hurdle. The project is proposed to come up in four phases, at an investment of Rs 8,722 crore, through private-public-partnership. It is expected that while the first phase of the airport is likely to be functional from 2014, the remaining three will be functional by 2017, 2025 and 2031.