Chennai Airport - Tata & Changi may revamp
The Tata Group and Singapore's Changi Airports International have agreed to jointly bid for the modernisation works of airports at Chennai and Kolkata as also vie for similar projects in non-metro airports."We are partnering with the Tatas to get the contracts for modernisation work in Kolkata and Chennai airports", Changi's Vice President (India) Ng Tim Peng said.
While the Tatas hold a controlling 51 per cent stake in the joint venture company, Changi would own the rest, he said.He further added, "we are open to other partners with the right skills and expertise joining us in this venture."No final decision has yet been taken by the Centre on the course of modernizing these two metro airports.Public-private partnershipThough the West Bengal government has opined that Kolkata airport should be developed by the Airports Authority of India, while Tamil Nadu government favours the public-private partnership route.
This is the second time the Tatas are entering the aviation sector in the recent past.Earlier, the Indian conglomerate had tied up with the Singapore Airline to bid for flag carrier Air-India when it was proposed to be privatised, but the process failed to take off.Incidentally, it was the Tatas who had floated the airline in 1932. Then known as Tata Airlines, it was nationalised by the government subsequently."At present, we are concentrating on Kolkata and Chennai airports modernization,"said Peng.He added that the JV firm planned to bid for city-side development of 35 non-metro airports as well.
Level if investmentsPeng refused to divulge the level of investments to be made by the Tata-Changi joint venture in these airports."We have not finalised any upside or downside limits. We are waiting for the announcement by the government on the modernisation of the two metro airports, the Changi official said.The Singaporean firm has already participated in the modernisation bid for Mumbai International Airports Ltd (MIAL) since May 2006.
"Due to our experiences at Mumbai, we are more prepared this time to submit more competitive bids", Peng said.He also said the Tatas and Changi wanted more groups connected with the airports business to join the joint venture.
