Megawide said it was pre-qualified as contractor for the Mopa Greenfield Airport in North Goa after a concession was awarded in 2014 to GMR Goa International Airports, a subsidiary of GMR Group.

GMR and Megawide jointly won a 25-year concession to develop, operate and maintain the airport via a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

“The engineering methodology we are using for Mactan-Cebu International Airport has gained a lot of attention here and abroad,” said Megawide president and chief operating officer Edgar Saavedra. “It was on this basis that we were invited to bid for the Mopa airport project and we believe it gives us a lead over other bidders.”

The Mopa airport project has a total construction cost of $300 million. The contract includes the passenger terminal building, air traffic control tower and cargo facilities.

Megawide said bidding for the Mopa airport construction would be held next month.

“The proponents were very impressed with the design and construction methodology we implemented in T2,” said Saavedra. “In fact, despite initial delays in the turnover of project land, we are already at 67 per cent completion and seven per cent ahead of schedule.”

Megawide was established more than a decade ago as a contractor, making a name for itself during the residential tower construction boom in Metro Manila. It diversified into infrastructure via the MCIA project.

Goa is a state in India’s West Coast and Megawide says its new airport had been designed to accommodate an initial five million passengers a year.

“We are compiling a very strong proposal. The design and methodologies are undergoing development with special being given to local conditions and materials,” Saavedra added.

Megawide is currently undertaking the construction of a second passenger terminal in MCIA. Once opened in June 2018, it will nearly triple the airport’s annual passenger capacity from 4.5 million passengers to 12.5 million.