|
Fate of MIHAN project rests on Nagpur Airport
Poonam Singh
The Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project is facing a crisis as the Centre is yet to decide on the transfer of all assets of Nagpur Airport under AAI to the Maharashtra government. The project is being developed by Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation of which Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is the chairman. The project includes an SEZ, a captive power plant, a health city, road and rail terminals, an international school, and a residential area on 3,600 hectares of land. Some 50-60 hectares is being acquired daily and consultants have been appointed for the various project components.
The Maharashtra government, while waiving stamp duty for Mumbai Airport project, has asked the Centre to transfer Nagpur Airport to the state for a token amount as the former has an ambitious development project for Nagpur Airport. The project envisages large investments from international companies. The Centre plans to resolve the issue through inter-governmental, inter-ministerial and intra-ministerial consultations.
MADC will upgrade the length of the Nagpur Airport runway from 3,200 to 4,000 metre and the capacity of terminal building from 400 passengers to 1,200-1,500 passengers. The company is also planning to provide space to airline operators for maintenance, refurbishment and overhauling purposes.
Says R.C. Sinha, VC & MD, MADC, "Major international clients are planning to visit Nagpur, so if the airport is not upgraded the MIHAN project will loose its marketability." The company hopes to attract investments from major players to further fund the Rs 2,500 crore MIHAN project. Until now MADC has raised Rs 400 crore for initial development.
Fate of MIHAN project rests on Nagpur Airport
|
