NEW DELHI: The process of modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports will reach the last lap with the Government opening financial bids made by shortlisted private consortia here on Tuesday.

The decision comes even as employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have threatened to disrupt air services if the Government proceeds with privatisation.

The AAI Employees Joint Forum, which met Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel here on Monday, warned of a flash strike. Its convener, M.K. Ghoshal, said the employees could even consider closure of all airports. "It would be a massive industrial action, the responsibility for which will squarely lie on the Government."

Official sources said the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) would be informed of the opening of the bids. But the forum leaders said, "If bids are forcibly opened, it will lead to a confrontation between the Government and the employees."

"Agreed to disagree"

During the meeting with the forum leaders, the Minister reiterated the government stand. Mr. Ghoshal told reporters, "We agreed to disagree." He said the Government had "not given us any satisfactory reply" to the question what happened to the Alternate Plan for modernising the two airports submitted by the forum last year to the Prime Minister.

The forum, led by Dipankar Mukherjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP and CITU leader, and Mr. Ghoshal, asked the Minister whether the Alternate Plan was considered or not. "Even if we accept that our plan has been rejected, we want to know who rejected it, on which forum and what were the grounds for declaring it untenable," Mr. Mukherjee said. He said the Alternate Plan Review Committee, headed by AAI Member (Finance) VDV Prasada Rao, accepted the plan as feasible and pointed out that the Authority could raise Rs. 9,500 crore from the market for modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports and 35 non-metro airports.

Pointing out that the United Progressive Alliance's Common Minimum Programme referred to resolution of labour issues through consultation and consensus, Mr. Mukherjee said opening of the bids would send a clear signal that the government was taking the path of confrontation. Mr. Ghoshal said Mr. Patel had told the Forum that he would convey its sentiments with the government leadership.

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