Rs 492 cr greenfield airport at Sindhudurg okayed

New Delhi, Sep 3 (UNI) A greenfeild airport will be set up at Sindhudurg in Maharashtra through public private partnership (PPP) at a cost of Rs 492 crore, the Civil Aviation Ministry announced today.

The 'in principle' approval to the airport, which would help in decongesting the Dabolim Airport in Goa, was given by the Steering Committee, constituted to coordinate and monitor the various clearance required for setting up of greenfield airports.

This is the first of such proposals to be cleared by the Steering Committee as it come on a day when the Government finalised the guidelines for setting up of greenfiled airports.

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) is the nodal agency responsible for selection of the PPP partners.

For the project, 271 hectares land has been identified which is non-agricultural and is owned by the Maharashtra Government.

''It does not involve any displacement or acquisition and does not require any change of land use since it falls under the industrial category. Also, there is no forestland involved,'' a Ministry press release said.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 492 crores for which the finance will be arranged by the private partners.

The terms of contract and project structuring will be worked out in consultation with the Centre, the release said.

The Airport is proposed to cater to only domestic traffic.

The private company that will implement the project will be selected through competitive bidding.

MIDC is expected to adopt the standard bidding documents issued by the Government for PPP projects.

Since there is no other airport in the catchment region of the proposed airport, which is in the costal Konkan region, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has supported the setting up of the project.

The AAI has submitted its technical report on site selection and has supported the proposed site, the release said.

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