Modernisation work for NSCB airport from January next

Kolkata, Jun 22 (UNI) The work for modernisation and upgradation of Kolkata airport will start in Januray next year targeting a 30-month timeframe, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla today said.

''The work will begin from next January. It would be completed in about 30 months,'' he told reporters after a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the State Secretariat.

To be funded by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the Rs 1,500-crore project for Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport would include construction of an integrated terminal to handle about 16 million domestic and four million international passengers, Mr Chawla said.

The two existing runways would be extended and an additional hangar built as part of the project.

Mr Chawla said the state Government had been asked to provide land for construction of a third runway which was of urgent necessity.

During the meeting, Mr Chawla informed the Chief Minister that the airport in Cooch Behar was being revived and would become operational by mid-August.

He said the Civil Aviation Ministry had commissioned a feasibility report on operating small commercial aircraft from the abandoned Behala airstrip on the city's eastern fringe. The report would be available in the next three months, he added.

UNI