Mohali Airport gets going

All decks were cleared for the construction of an international airport at Mohali with the signing of an agreement for the formation of a joint venture company (JVC), titled Chandigarh International Airport Private Limited. The partners in the project will include the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). Airports Authority of India chairman V P Aggarwal, GMADA Chief Administrator V P Singh and HUDA Chief Administrator T C Gupta signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of India, Punjab and Haryana governments at the headquarters of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi.
Punjab Civil Aviation Secretary Vishwajeet Khanna said: "The airport, which will house both international and domestic terminals as well as a cargo hub, will provide a huge economic boost to the northern region.The project is expected to be completed in two years."
Sources said that the JVC board will have nine members, and will include civil aviation secretaries of both Punjab and Haryana as directors and member (finance) of AAI will be chairman. The airport will be developed over 300 acres of land at Jheourheri village in Mohali.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two states and the Centre on January 4, 2009.
The Union government holds 51 per cent of the equity share while the Punjab and Haryana governments hold a stake of 24.5 per cent each. Earlier, a non-official resolution was passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha naming the airport as Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport, which has been forwarded to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
A response is still awaited on the issue.