Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the first phase of the much-delayed Navi Mumbai airport project will commence by December 2019.
He said the government would issue a letter of intent (LoI) on awarding the contract in a “matter of time”.
He said pre-developmental work for the ambitious project would be completed by May next year. The project has been dogged by inordinate delays since its conception in 1997. Infrastructure major GVK group had bagged the bid to build and operate the second international airport in the Mumbai metropolitan region for ₹16,000 crore earlier this year, beating rival GMR group.
However, the project couldn’t make any progress as the State government has not yet approved and finalised the deal. Once the government gives its nod, a letter of award will be given to the contractor, after which a special purpose vehicle (SPV) can be set up to execute the project.
Mr. Fadnavis said, “There are two phases of of Navi Mumbai airport. For phase one, land has to be levelled and a hill cut to change the course of a river.