By Shyam Pandharipande, IANS
Nagpur : Most of the land required for an international hub airport at Nagpur has been acquired and more than two-thirds of the construction work of the accompanying special economic zone (SEZ) has been completed, a top official has said.
The Indian cabinet gave permission on Jan 17 to upgrade the Ambedkar International Airport at Nagpur into a world-class aviation hub for passengers and cargo at a cost of Rs.26 billion ($650 million) with the status of a special economic zone.
“The airport will see world-class development and so beautiful it will be, you would love to miss a flight here,” R.C. Sinha, vice-chairman and managing director of Maharashtra Airport Development Co (MADC), told IANS.
Nearly 3,000 of the required 4,311 hectares of land required for the project has already been acquired and more than two-third of the infrastructure work in its SEZ component completed, Sinha said.
MADC is developing the project jointly with Airports Authority of India.
“The delay (in the cabinet decision) has inevitably led to cost escalation but we will raise part of Rs.26 billion committed for the purpose through private partnerships, bonds and securities,” Sinha added.
“The MADC expects to receive a proposal to construct an additional 60 x 400-metre runway within a fortnight after which tenders will be floated,” he pointed out.
Regarding the SEZ project, Sinha said: “The processing industry alone is expected to see an investment of Rs.350 billion ($8.92 billion). Land measuring 1,500 acres has already been allotted to 27 companies including major IT players and many more requisitions are being processed.”
While the first phase of the project will be completed within a year, the entire project will be completed by 2025, 10 years before the originally estimated time, thanks to the phenomenal growth rate of the aviation industry in the country, Sinha said.
A health city comprising 11 super-speciality hospitals, a large IT park and an international school is part of the Rs.110 billion upcoming gigantic project besides myriad other industrial units.