Friday, October 31, 2014

Bengal Aerotropolis airport project hits fresh land hurdle

Kolkata: As per records available with the bankers, the private airport near Durgapur was declared ready for commercial operations in April 2013.

But not many have a clue when the airport will be ready to operate flights.

A high tension transmission wire of State electricity distribution utility is still cross-crossing the run way, blocking scope for regulatory approval. It could not be shifted in time due to Trinamool Congress sponsored protests against land acquisition since 2008. The land tangle was solved by the government early this year. But the solution did not come cheap. The final pay out towards shifting of transmission line is nearly a quarter of the cost of building the airport.

However, even such high pay out brought little respite to the promoters as the State utility has missed the revised timelines of shifting the transmission line by September 2014. It means the regulatory approval for operating commercial flights is unlikely to come before March 2015.
30/10/14 Pratim Ranjan Bose/Business Line
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