Centre grounds Maya`s airport hub plan

Lucknow: The Centre has put the proposed Rs 3,500-crore global airport hub at Noida in Uttar Pradesh into cold storage and the ambitious project would not be able to keep its date with the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The matter is pending approval from the Union Cabinet since long even as the government has allowed development of a greenfield airport within the 150-km radius of an existing one on a case-to-case basis.
"However, this relaxation does not apply in this case as the matter was already before the Union Cabinet and not the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)," UP Chief Secretary and Industrial Development Commissioner (IDC) Atul Kumar Gupta told Business Standard.
"Despite our repeated efforts and representations, the issue has ‘effectively' been put in the cold storage," he said.
Proposed in 2001, the Taj International Airport hub is to be built over 1,500 hectares at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district by a public-private partnership and will rival Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. The hub, estimated to handle 4 million passengers annually, would be the only of its kind in India and offer world-class facilities and amenities to passengers and airlines.
The state had requested the Centre to convene a Cabinet secretary-level meet to clear any doubts about the proposed project. However, the Centre was yet to respond or seek further clarifications, said Archana Agarwal, secretary, UP Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department.
17/07/08 Virendra Singh Rawat/Business Standard

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008, New Jul 2008