28.6.08

Kolkata's Airport revamp may cost Rs.2100 Crores

The modernization of NSCBI Airport will cost around Rs 2,100 crore, up from the estimated project cost of Rs 1,942 crore. This emerged when the lowest bidder for the principal turnkey project contract quoted a price of around Rs 2,100 crore.Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already spent Rs 100 crore on modernising the cargo complex and upgrading facilities at the domestic terminal as well extending the secondary runway and creating additional parking bays for aircraft.The Consortium ITD-ITD CEM had emerged the lowest bidder for the Kolkata airport modernisation project followed by L&T which had quoted around Rs 100 crore more. The ITD group was among the companies involved in building the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok while ITD-CEM is involved in the Delhi Metro Rail project. L&T has constructed the international airport at Bangalore. Others in the fray were Hervé Pomerleau Canada-Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd and TAV Tepe Akfen Yatirim ve Isletme AS Punj Lloyd Ltd. The official announcement of the turnkey project contractor will, however, be made only after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs clears the modernisation proposals for Kolkata and Chennai airports. The civil aviation ministry had given AAI the nod to provisionally go ahead with the tendering process to save time. The Kolkata airport modernisation project was okayed by the Public Investment Board late last month.
It would take at least four-five months for on-site activity to begin as the principal contractor has to sub-contract various works. Work may begin around December-January 2009,that is a full 12 months behind schedule as modernisation work was scheduled to begin in January 2008.
The upgrade project involves construction of a new integrated terminal building to handle 20 million passengers. Along with existing capacity of 4.942 million passengers (0.882 million, international and 4.06 million, domestic), the total handling capacity would rise to 24.942 million passengers that will be saturated by 2015-16. Subsequently, total capacity will be increased to 39.32 million in phase-II and 56.13 million in phase-III.

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