Rajasthan's aerotropolis project in political mess

Jaipur: The mega Rs 3,000-crore aerotropolis project near Shahpura in Rajasthan is stuck with the state government. Despite having all the regulatory clearances from departments like the ministry of defence, ministry of environment and forest, ministry of home affairs, director general of civil aviation, airports authority of India and steering committee, this project is biting dust in the bureaucratic corridors of the state industry department. This may give a big jolt to the efforts of the state government in “attracting investment”.
The promoter company, Rajasthan Aviation Infrastructure India (RAIPL), had signed MoU with the previous BJP government for setting up an international standard airport and other aviation related industries over 4,500 acres in Rajasthan under the Greenfield Airport Policy (2008). The policy permits private organisations to build airports if permitted by the Centre.
The project will be India’s second private-run airport, after the one in Kochi. It’s been over a year that the agreement was signed. Now that all the clearances are in place, the state government is not giving its nod for the project. The company claims that the delay is in signing up of the state support agreement with state government.
“The progress is slow. Unless state support agreement is signed, practically , we cannot take up the project further . The state government support is needed for acquiring land and other infrastructural facilities like water, road and power,” said RAIPL managing director Nikhil Gupta.
According to sources, the project is likely to be mired in a political wrangle. It’s surprising that the state government had delayed the project despite notifying it officially as one of its early-bird projects on Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.
11/05/10 Rituraj Tiwari/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports May 2010, New May 2010