PM lays foundation stone of new Mumbai airport

Raigad (Maharashtra), Feb 18: Prime Minister rendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone of the Rs 16,000-crore vi Mumbai Intertiol Airport and iugurated the country’s largest container termil at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, constructed at a cost of Rs 4,719 crore here.

He performed the ground-breaking ceremony and the iuguration electronically in the presence of Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadvis, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Ramdas Athawale and state ministers.

The vi Mumbai Intertiol Airport will be the second intertiol aviation hub for the fincial capital, presently served by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Intertiol Airport that has almost reached saturation point.

The new airport will be constructed by GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd (GVKPIL) as per a concession agreement signed on January 8, with the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal authority of Maharashtra to oversee the project implementation.

The agreement has created a special purpose vehicle - vi Mumbai Intertiol Airport Pvt. Ltd (NMIAL), in which the GVKPIL, through its subsidiary, Mumbai Intertiol Pvt Ltd, holds 74 percent equity, while the rest is held by CIDCO.

The initial concession period is 30 years, from the appointed date, which is extendable by another 10 years, for the project in which GVKPIL was declared the successful bidder in February 2017.

The NMIAL, a greenfield airport, will be constructed in the PPP mode on 1,160 hectares on the mainland in vi Mumbai, across the Mumbai harbour, with the advantage of the upcoming Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, a Special Economic Zone and other major infrastructure developments coming up.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust’s Fourth Container Termil (FCT)’s Phase I in this Maharashtra district has been completed in a record time at a cost of Rs 4,719 crore and is expected to boost container trade and logistics in a big way.

In October 2015, Modi had laid the foundation stone for this termil which will double JNPT’s current container handling capacity.

The FCT will add capacity of 24 lakh containers per annum in the first phase and after completion of the second phase in 2022, the capacity will be quadrupled to a whopping 100 lakh containers per year.

Gadkari said the FCT was developed on Design, Build, Fund, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for a concession period of 30 years with an estimated investment of Rs 7,915 crore for both the phases. (IANS)