Losing Delhi airport project to rival GMR-Fraport consortium despite emerging as the top financial bidder, Anil Ambani's Reliance [Get Quote] Airport Developers on Monday lashed out at the bid process, saying changes in tender conditions hours before the final decision were 'untenable'.

Immediately after the financial bids for the Rs 5,400 crore (Rs 54 billion) airport modernisation projects at Delhi and Mumbai were opened, a Reliance spokesperson said: "To our utter shock and surprise, substantial changes to the published tender conditions have been telephonically communicated, in strange circumstances, barely two hours before opening of financial bids.

The drama of airport privatisation

"We are advised these changes are a complete departure from the tender conditions and are untenable," he said in a statement.

Reliance had emerged as the highest financial bidder for Delhi Airport with 45.99 per cent revenue share and is amongst the 2 highest technically ranked bidders for both airports.

"There was no provision in the RFP or tender conditions to give any bidder an option to match the highest bid, that too selectively for only one airport. These last minute changes are a complete violation of the RFP," the statement said.

Airports: Bidders blast procedure

Barely hours before the awarding of contracts for modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, several bidders protested against deviation from tender conditions, with some even taking legal opinion.

After receipt of a communication from the government on the manner in which financial bids would be opened for awarding of the contract, some aspirants send protest letters to Prime Minister against the procedure laid down for the purpose.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said this morning that the revenue issue would be looked into only after the financial bids of the private consortia were opened.

In its communication, the government informed the bidders that GMR-Fraport would be asked to choose one of the two airports as it was the sole technically qualified bidder. It would be asked to match the highest financial bid.

For the other airport, the top bidder would be awarded the contract, sources in the know of the development said.

Following this, a source in DS consortium said that they were writing to the Prime Minister to bring to his notice the deviation from the Request for Proposal document which had stipulated that only bidders qualifying at 80 marks would be considered for purpose.

Sterlite disappointed

A disappointed Sterlite group (which has been re-christened Vedanta) said it was exploring "all options" as its financial bid for Mumbai was not opened for "some unknown reasons."

Group spokesperson Dhanpal Jhaveri told PTI that "we are deeply disappointed that our bid for Mumbai was not opened... We had bid substantially higher than the highest bidder.

Asked if the Sterlite group was considering moving court, he said: "We are considering all options."