The Maharashtra government has given its nod to the development of the Nagpur airport on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model with a private player operating it for 60 years with an expected investment of Rs1,700 crore. The airport will have two runways, one with the capacity to operate cargo aircrafts. It will also have an additional terminal building and commercial facilities, making it the second most important airport in the state after Mumbai. The proposal is expected to get the cabinet’s nod in the next few weeks.
The decision to move the proposal before the state cabinet for Request For Proposal (RFP) of the airport’s development was taken in a board meeting of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), headed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The developed airport will have an additional runway of 4,000 meters X 45 meters, besides the existing runway to enable the operations of the cargo and military operations.
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“The finalised bidder will have to invest Rs1,600 crore in first phase and Rs 100 crore in the second to design, finance, build, operate the airport for 30 years on PPP model. The contract, which has the revenue sharing clause, will have the provision of its renewal for 30 more years. The Nagpur airport is the second busiest after Mumbai and the cargo activities are likely to go up once the MIHAN (Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur) is fully operational. The new runway will also facilitate operations of the Indian Air Force, which has a base in Nagpur,” said an official privy to the development.
The airport in the CM’s hometown Nagpur will be the first airport owned by the state to be handed to a private player for construction and operation. “We have given five small airports owned by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation for their operation to Reliance Airports. This will be the first airport owned by the state to hand over to the bidder for development and operations thereafter. This enables the private players to bring in their expertise, complete the project in stipulated period and make necessary modifications whenever needed,” the officer said.
Suresh Kakani, vice-chairman and managing director of MADC, said the project is expected to be completed in four years after the award of the bid. “We have completed the process of Request For Quotation with good response from the bidders. The CM has directed us, on Thursday, to put up proposal for RFP in the next 15 days for the cabinet nod.”
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