Navi Mumbai Airport update

Maharashtra is confident of making the proposed Navi Mumbai airport operational within five years. Chief secretary Johny Joseph said on Monday, “If everything works according to plan, the airport on the outskirts of Mumbai will be ready by 2013-14.’’ A press meet was called at the Mantralaya to brief the media about the two-day Golden Maharashtra Infrastructure Summit that begins in Mumbai from today. In the seminar, urban infrastructure, housing, energy, roads, ports and civil aviation will be discussed. Joseph said the terms of reference for the Environment Impact Analysis (EIA) report had been submitted to the Union government and the state is awaiting environmental clearance from the central government. “Once we get clearance for the project, the work will automatically speed up,’’ he added. By March 2010, the state plans to award the contract. The airport would be partly operational by 2013. The nearly Rs 8,000-crore project will be implemented on a build, operate and transfer basis. The airport is expected to handle 10 million passengers a year and will serve as a second facility to Sahar airport.