INDIA. The Airports Authority of India is planning to invite tenders for duty free shops in seven airports across the country, according to a report in the Financial Express newspaper.
The authority will invite technical bids for Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calicut, Chennai, Goa, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram airports by mid-January 2006, an airport authority official told the paper.
The bid criteria are to be finalised this week. “We would like to make the bidding more competitive,” he added.
Most of the duty free shops in India are run by ITDC, whose contracts have already expired. ITDC will continue to run the shops until the final selection is made, the official said.
Airports Authority of India’s non-traffic revenue accounts for around 30% of the total.
Delhi and Mumbai are not included in the tender following the government’s decision to privatise the airports. The privatisation process is still ongoing.
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