The government on Monday decided to scrap the tenders to appoint a financial consultant for privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports and invite fresh bids within a fortnight, highly placed sources said.

This decision was taken at a meeting Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy had with Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, a day ahead of the group of ministers meeting on the issue. Top officials of the finance and civil aviation ministries were also present.

"We have decided to scrap the tenders and agreed to call for fresh bids within a fortnight," the sources told PTI in New Delhi.

The GoM, which also includes Divestment Minister Arun Shourie and Law Minister Arun Jaitley, had earlier short-listed three firms -- ABN Amro, Ernst and Young and KPMG -- on the basis of their technical bids.

There was a deadlock over the appointment of a financial advisor for the restructuring process of the two airports as the GoM had found the lowest bidder was not the firm that was considered to be the best in technical aspects.

The GoM, headed by the finance minister, is believed to be unhappy over the failure to select the best-suited advisor despite three rounds of meetings.

Jaswant Singh had announced in the budget that the government would start the process this year to modernise and upgrade Delhi and Mumbai airports to the level of the best in the world.