Mumbai: Mumbai's second international airport in Navi Mumbai will get further delayed with Maharashtra chief minister PrithvirajChavan announcing in the state legislative council on Monday that he can't give a timeline for acquisition of 291 hectares of land needed for the project.
"The new international airport at Navi Mumbai needs about 1,160 hectares of land for pure aviation purpose while 225 hectares is required for other purposes near the airport. Out of the 1,160 hectares land required for aviation, 291 hectares of land is yet to be acquired," Chavan said in reply to a calling attention motion filed by Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt in the council on Monday.
During the discussion on the issue, Chavan said, "In 2006, when this project was originally proposed, the estimated cost was 4,766 crore, but now the estimated cost has risen to 14,573 crore. 291 hectares of private land has to be acquired yet, but the government can't give a timeline. It is our effort to finish this work as fast as possible."
The chief minister informed the House that the original plan was to build an airport that could handle 40 lakh passengers per year, but now the planned size of the project has been expanded to 60 lakh passengers a year.
02/04/13 Economic Times
