The Philippines on December 27 received bids from four groups for a 170.6-billion-peso ($3 billion) contract to upgrade and operate its main airport in Manila.

The groups that submitted bids were Manila International Airport Consortium, Asian Airport Consortium, GMR Airports Consortium and SMC SAP & Co Consortium, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said before opening the offers. The concession period is 15 years, and extendable by 10 years.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the main gateway for travelers to the Philippines, has been handling traffic well beyond its capacity of 33.2 million passengers a year. In 2019, the last full year of the pandemic, passenger traffic reached 47.9 million.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration wants to tap private companies to manage the airport as part of a wider infrastructure push. The project involves upgrading of terminals, increasing of capacity to up to 62 million passengers annually, and improving technology infrastructure, according to the Philippine transportation department.

Conglomerates Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Alliance Global Group Inc., Ayala Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp. formed the Manila International Airport Consortium, according to live-streamed proceedings.

Holding company House of Investments, Inc. has joined GMR Airports International BV and Cavitex Holdings, Inc. in submitting a bid for the airport project, while Cosco Capital Inc. is part of the Asian Airport Consortium.

Bidders’ financial and technical qualifications will be screened in the coming days, Bautista said. The winning bidder is expected to be announced next quarter, ABS-CBN reported.