Navigation

Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: December 29: A few days back Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel announced that all issues regarding the second International Airport at Navi Mumbai would be resolved soon. He added that its’ estimated cost is about Rs. 4,000 crore. It is said by officials that the airport would come up by 2012, and will have the capacity to handle nearly 55 million passengers annually.

It will be located in Kopra, Panvel. It would be built through public-private partnership, with the private sector getting 74 % equity. The Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Maharashtra Government, and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) would hold the rest.

Bidding for the same will began in 2007. Officials here informed that while 1,140 hectares would be required for core airport activity, another 470 hectares would be needed for city-side development. The new proposed airport will be close to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and the Thane-Belapur and Taloja industrial areas as well as a proposed Special Economic Zone.

But the main problem that can delay the speedy construction of the new airport is acquisition of 24 per cent of land from seven villages and ten settlements inhabited by 3,500 families.

Kartiki Shastry