The state government in Uttar Pradesh, India, has cleared the Kushinagar international airport project, to be built under design build finance operate transfer (DBFOT) basis. The government also vetted and approved the final bid document.

The project, likely to cost Rs 354 crore (US$58 million) under public-private partnership (PPP) model, has been hanging fire for the last months. The project will have a 50-year concession period.

The RFP document is likely to be launched this week, and the eight bidders who had qualified the preliminary bid process would be given time until February 17 to submit financial bids, according to an official source.

According to local sources, the bidders, who had qualified technical bid process undertaken in March 2013, included GMR Infrastructure, Essel, Gammon India, Shreya Infrastructure and Transstroy.

Fifteen firms have submitted qualifications documents for the project. The Request for qualification (RFQ) had been launched in January 2013.

IL&FS Infrastructure is the advisor to the government.

Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of tourist destinations that are religious, cultural, historical and full of natural beauty the state attracts a large number of tourists. It ranks number one in the country in domestic tourism and ranks fourth in foreign tourist arrivals