Days after India announced 250 million USD loans to the Maldives to deal with COVID's economic impact, New Delhi has started work on the expansion of Hanimaadhoo International Airport in the northern Maldives, which is billed as the largest infrastructure and connectivity project in that part of the Indian ocean country.
While the project will formally begin next year after tendering by the Maldives government, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) team visited the airport earlier this week for assessment and initial survey. The AAI team is preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and will submit it within 2 months.
The team also met with Maldives Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail and officials from the Maldives Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
The expansion of the airport includes-- an extension of the runway to 2200 metres which will allow A320s, Boeing 737s to land and up-gradation of terminals, fuel farms, cargo terminal, fire station. India has extended 800 million USD Line of Credit for the development of the project.
A release by the Indian mission in the Maldives said, "Transparency and partnership are cornerstone principles of Indian Line of Credit projects. Capacity building of local companies and officials will be a priority even while the project is being implemented to assure sustainability."
23/09/20 DNA
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