Airports for sale: Adani emerges as top contender for ₹29,560 crore Jewar airport

Owned by Gautam Adani, the second richest person in India, Adani Enterprises has reportedly emerged as the top bidder for the ₹ 29,560 crore Jewar airport.

A global tender was floated to hire a developer for the proposed airport on May 30 by the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) - an agency floated by the Uttar Pradesh government for managing the mega project in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.

According to the news agency PTI, apart from Adani Enterprises, Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL) -­ the GMR group-led consortium in which AAI is also a stakeholder, Zurich Airport International AG and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited have participated in the bidding.

Technical bids for selection of the concessionaire for the airport were opened at the office of the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) in Greater Noida, reported the news agency.

As per information, evaluation for technical qualification of the bidders as a developer for the airport will be done and it will be finalised on November 29.

The NIAL officials were quoted by the media as saying that the bidding is being done as cost per passenger and the top who fits all parameters would be selected by the government. Airport consultant PWE has been asked to evaluate the qualification of the bidders and thereafter submit a report to the NIAL in a week’s time.

As per sources, four bidders were picked from a pool of 20 that had participated in the bid.

Though the DIAL has the right of first refusal (ROFR) for the Jewar project under rules there are a few who believe that Adani Enterprises may finally emerge as the winner. Recently, the Adani group won the bidding for the six airports leased out by the government under the PPP model.

The airport, the third in the national capital region after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport and Ghaziabad's Hindon airport, will be spread over 5,000 hectares and is said to have six to eight runways, the most in India when fully built.

According to an official privy to the development, the first phase of the airport would be spread over 1,334 hectares with the cost of ₹4,588 crores. It is expected to be completed by 2023.