Centre clears revised norms for new airport bids in record time.

After nearly a decade of delay, the Navi Mumbai airport project has finally taken off. The civil aviation ministry has set the process of inviting tenders for the airport's construction into motion by clearing the revised tender document Cidco had prepared.

The new government moved swiftly to okay the document, and what could not be accomplished in years was done over a weekend, officials said. The plan to construct the Navi Mumbai airport was first mooted in 1998. In 2000, the project cost was pegged at Rs. 5,000 crore. Today, it is Rs. 14,575 crore. In early 2013, Cidco had submitted the initial draft of the tender document they had prepared for inviting bids. In March this year, they submitted the revised draft to the UPA government. Then, on Friday, they met the new civil aviation minister and resubmitted the revised draft. Cidco babus were in for a surprise, the ministry cleared it.

TOI