Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Apr 22, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Apr 22, 2006 |
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Logistics - Modernisation High Court dismisses Reliance plea on Delhi, Mumbai airports upgrade contracts Our Bureau
A FILE photo of passengers scanning the schedule of flights at Delhi airport.
New Delhi , April 21 THE Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Airports Developer Private Ltd challenging the award of contract for modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports. Disposing of the RADPL petition, Mr Justice T.S. Thakur and Mr Justice B.N. Chaturvedi held that there was transparency in award of the contracts. "No mala fide or arbitrariness were acted upon in awarding the bids to two private developers." The court also held that no legal infirmity was acted upon in giving the bids to GMR-Fraport and GVK-ACS for modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, respectively. "We have held GMR-Fraport is the only qualified tenderer on technical ground and rightly bagged the tender for Delhi airport," said the order. "It is a valid allotment," the judges said. On the issue of Mumbai airport, GVK-ACS is the highest financial bidder, the order said.
Option to move SLP
The court, however, said that the interim order of February 20 would remain in force for two more weeks to allow Reliance the option of moving a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court. On February 20, the court had said that the parties could not seek any compensation in case the court decision went against them. The Government has chosen a consortium headed by the GMR group to modernise Delhi airport after it emerged as the top qualifier on technical grounds and also agreed to match the revenue share offered by Reliance. For Mumbai, a consortium headed by the GVK emerged as the top technical and financial bidder and was awarded the contract. GMR has tied up with Fraport and Malaysia Airports and the GVK consortium includes Airports South Africa. The private sector consortia are to hold 74 per cent stake in the two new companies that have been set up for modernising the two airports, with the remaining equity being with the Airports Authority of India. When contacted, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, said: "We welcome and respect the decision of the High Court." Welcoming the decision, the GMR group said "it reinforces our resolve to create a world-class airport in Delhi within the specified time frame."
Related Stories: More Stories on : Courts/Legal Issues | Modernisation | Airlines
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