KARACHI: A Turkish consortium, the only bidder for Pakistan’s Islamabad airport operations, has proposed a concession fee lower than the government’s minimum threshold, according to the chairman of the bid evaluation committee on Thursday.
The cash-strapped country aims to raise revenue by accelerating its privatization efforts, including outsourcing the management of three major airports.
The consortium, consisting of Terminal Yapi, ERG Insaat, and ERG UK, has offered to pay 47% of its revenue from operations to the government, falling short of the 56% minimum requirement set by the authorities. The aviation and airports authority confirmed the offer and stated that the matter will be referred to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is advising the government on the outsourcing process, for further evaluation.
Sadiq ur Rehman, chairman of the bid evaluation committee and deputy director-general of Pakistan Airports Authority, noted that the financial details will be presented to the IFC for a final review and report.
Pakistan is also seeking to sell a 60% stake in the financially troubled national airline PIA as part of its effort to raise funds and restructure state-owned enterprises under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program. Earlier, the Blue World Consortium had submitted a bid of Rs10 billion during the initial privatization attempt, significantly below the expected minimum price of Rs85 billion.
