Navi Mumbai International Airport: No penalty for bidders

The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) is leaving no stone unturned to attract bidders for the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) project. Now, the nodal agency for NMIA has assured bidders that no penalty will be imposed if the project gets delayed due to issues related to rehabilitation of project-affected persons (PAPs).

After three extensions, the final date of submitting financial bids is February 13. Cidco had to extend the deadline thrice as it received only one bid. The deadline for submission of financial bids was first extended in November 2016 for two months. In 2017, the bidding got two more extensions on January 9 and January 25.

Since both the central and state governments are showing interest in the project, the deadline for completion of the first phase remains December 2019. Bidders are apprehensive that they may have to pay a penalty if the project is not completed on time.

However, Cidco assured bidders that if there is any delay due to the rehabilitation of PAPs. Bhushan Gagrani, managing director and vice chairman of Cidco, said authorities would sort out all rehabilitation issues in time and it would take care that the consortium executing the mega project does not get penalised for any delay that may occur due to Cidco's rehabilitation problem.