Business News
Navi Mumbai airport likely by 2019, phase one capacity seen at 10 mn passengers a year, says Cidco
Thane: Expressing confidence in meeting the deadlines, the City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) on Thursday said the first phase of the Rs 16,000-crore Navi Mumbai international airport will be completed by 2019-end.
The Navi Mumbai town planning authority recently awarded the contract to develop the much-delayed airport to GVK-led Mumbai International Airport. “The work on the project is on fast track and in all probability the first phase would be completed as per time lines-that’s towards the end of 2019,” Cidco joint managing director Prajakta Verma told reporters here.
Interestingly, a Capa (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation) report had stated that the airport would not commence operations before fiscal 2023 as significant earthwork have to be carried out to begin construction of the main airport infrastructure.This February, the GVK Group, which had the first right of refusal in case of a higher bid, had won the bids for the greenfield airport that will be built on a 1,160-hectare marshy land on a PPP mode with the Cidco as the nodal public implementing agency.
However, Verma said work of razing the hill to fill the nearby marshy land is well in progress and will be completed by next May after which the remaining job would be undertaken by the GVK Group.
The first phase of the airport will have a capacity of 10 million passengers per annum and will be able to handle 40 million on full capacity by 2030.
