Just two days ahead of the deadline for responding to the transaction documents for Delhi and Mumbai airport modernisation, the Bharti Group on Mon day expressed its inability to participate in the bid. This, sources said, was because it could not secure a perfomance guarantee committment from its foreign partner Changi Enterprises.But the encouraging news is that of the eight bidders, six have already confirmed participation with the Civil Aviation Ministry. And according to rules, Changi too has time till 5:30 pm on Wednesday to make up its mind.The other joint venture involved in internal negotiations and still to confirm is Piramal and L&T who have Hochtief Airport as their foreign partner.The problem area with Changi arose from the performance guarantee it has to give to the joint venture as the operator. This involved a commitment of about Rs 300 crore, which it found too difficult to comply. However, other bidders seem to have sorted out the issue though doubts continue to linger as there is still some time for the last date.In a statement today, the Bharti group said it was unable to participate in the bid as Changi Airport of Singapore had conveyed that they were not confident about meeting the conditions set in the tender.Bharti and DLF both agreed that while the conditions laid down in the tender were challenging, they could be met with commitment from all partners. ‘‘Both Bharti and DLF are confident of building a world class airport at Delhi, complying with all the terms of the tender,’’ the statement said. ‘‘However, we cannot proceed without the commitment of Changi, as it is an essential qualification criteria to have an airport operator participate in the bidding process,’’ it added.Bharti said it was dismayed at this development, as it was very enthusiastic about participating in this opportunity to create a world-class airport in Delhi.Bharti had chosen Changi as its partner based on its reputation being the best in its class anywhere in the world, it said. ‘‘However, its efforts have been frustrated with Changi’s unwillingness to commit to the key terms of the tender conditions,’’ the statement added.The Ready Six• Macquarie Bank Ltd, Starlite Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Aeroports de Paris• GMR Infrastructure Ltd, GMR Energy Fraport AG India Development Fund, Malaysia Airport (NIGA) SDN BHD• Pan India Paryatan Ltd, TAV Investment Construction and Operation Corp, Ganjam Trading, SNC-Lavalin• GVK Industries Ltd, Airport Company South Africa Ltd, Old Mutual Asset Managers, The Bidvest Group Ltd• Reliance Airport Developers Pvt Ltd, Reliance Energy Ltd, ASA• DS Construction Ltd, Flughafen Munchen GmbH (Munich), Hira Chandani Properties Pvt Ltd, Ebony Retail Decision awaited: Hochtief Airport GmbH Piramal Holdings Ltd, L&T Holding Ltd
