Rs 2500 cr investment plan for Bhubaneswar Airport on PPP mode: AAI
08 November, Bhubaneswar
An investment of Rs 2500 crore will be made through PPP for the development of Business district, logistic and warehousing to cater to the growing dynamics of the Bhubaneswar airport, according to Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra.
Mohapatra who inaugurated the Rs 299.86 lakh CISF barrack to accommodate 80 CISF personnel at the Bhubaneswar airport here told newspersons that the investment would generate direct employment opportunities for 35,000 and indirect employment opportunities for 50,000 people.
The AAI, he said, has identified 60 acres of land for the proposed development for the purpose which would be taken up on PPP mode for a concession lease period of 30 years.
Mohapatra said the expression of Interest for the development plan had already been floated and as many as nine potential developers have evinced interest in the project.
The AAI chairman said Rs 200 to 300 crore would be spent in next two to three years for the development of the Bhubaneswar Airport which has been declared as a major Airport by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India.
He said under the development plan the runway would be widened, taxiway and two ATC tower, cargo handling facility and commercial development would be developed.
The Bhubaneswar Airport has the potential to receive wide bodied plane and ”we are working for that’,Mr Mohapatra said adding that efforts are being made to increase the handling capacity of Bhubaneswar Airport to 25 lakh this year against 20 lakh passengers last year.
To a question, the AAI Chairman said the Jharsuguda airport being developed at a cost Rs 200 crore would be made operational in April 2018 six months before its scheduled date.
He said the state government has given Rs 75 crore and land for the development of the airport, which is being developed for improving regional connectivity within Odisha and its adjoining states like Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as a part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme of the revised National Civil Aviation policy 2016 of the Central Government.bm