Mumbai: Barring Sindhudurg, the hometown of industries minister Narayan Rane, the fate of the proposed greenfield airports across the state hangs in balance. This is owing to farmers' refusal to part with land or demand for huge compensation, lack of rehabilitation plans and doubts over the economic viability of the projects.
When the airports proposal was discussed in the Lok Sabha, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said that the Centre in September 2008 had accorded in-principle approval for Maharashtra's request to set up an airport at Sindhudurg. The government has appointed the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation as the nodal agency to construct the airport. So far, 271 hectares have been acquired.
A state government official said that greenfield airport proposals for Ahmadnagar, Amravati, Jalgaon, Solapur and Rajgurunagar (Pune), too, were submitted to the Centre; early clearances are expected for at least three of these.
For Shirdi (Ahmadnagar), Jalgaon and Bolera (Amravati), there is no dispute over land acquisition. But there are doubts about the economic viability of these airports. Jalgaon has been entrusted to the Airports Authority of India. For Bolera, MIDC will be the nodal agency. The Shirdi airport will be constructed on public-private partnership.
Land acquisition for Solapur and Rajgurunagar is a big issue, since at both these places, farmers have either refused to part with land or are demanding unrealistic compensation.
02/03/11 Prafulla Marpakwar/Times of India
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