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The central government, which plans to build an international airport at Kushinagar, in eastern Uttar Pradesh, under the public-private partnership (PPP) model at an estimated cost of Rs 354 crore, received 15 technical bids. The department of economic affairs, union ministry of finance, has given inprinciple approval for viability gap funding for the project. It may be noted that this would be one of the country鈥檚 first greenfield airport projects for which VGF was approved. The bids were received from reputed infrastructure companies for development of the proposed airport. Kushinagar is one of the four most important pilgrimage sites associated with the life of Lord Buddha. The bids were opened recently by a committee chaired by principal secretary and director general tourism Manoj Kumar Singh. The bids are being evaluated by the project consultants. Thereafter, the process for inviting the financial bids will begin, said Bharti Singh, officer of special duty in the department of tourism. The viability gap funding scheme provides financial support in the form of grants, one time or deferred, to infrastructure projects undertaken through public private partnerships if the financial returns are not seen to be adequate for a profit-seeking investor. In such cases, the government can pitch in and meet a portion of the cost, making the project viable. This method is known as viability gap funding. Viability gap funding of 40 percent (Rs 140 crore) has been approved for the project. The centre and the state government will chip in with 20 percent of the cost each.