Draft master plan for Navi Mumbai Int’l airport cleared

Delhi: Plans to construct a second international airport at Mumbai received a major boost on Monday with a steering committee comprising of civil aviation and state government officials  clearing the draft master plan. This clearance removes the last hurdle for the project which now moves on a fast track.

The steering committee, composed of officials of the ministry of civil aviation, the state of Maharashtra, CIDCO and the Airport Authority of India, was set up to oversee the structure and implementation of the project, including funding proposals, preparatory work, tender and other documents, bidding and selection of a strategic partner.

The clearance will allow bidding for airport construction to start, a process which is expected to take a minimum of 7-8 months. Global tenders will now be issued for the attention of developers.

The Mumbai airport is expected to reach the saturation mark of 40 million passengers by 2016, which makes the setting up of a new airport critical.

Under the draft master plan, the first phase of the Navi Mumbai airport is slated to come up by 2014 with a capacity to handle 10 million passengers.

According to TC Benjamin, principal secretary in the state urban development department, a decision to flatten hillocks overlooking the site would be taken after studying a report submitted by a consultancy appointed to look into the matter.