NMIA project all set for take-off

The airport, which will have two parallel runways, will eventually handle close to 80 flight movements every hour. 

Twenty-one years after the idea of a second airport for the financial capital was first suggested, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the construction site of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) this Sunday. The airport, which will have two parallel runways, will eventually handle close to 80 flight movements every hour, significantly easing the load of the severely congested Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which is developing the airport, expects the first flight to take off from NMIA in 2019.

The Basics

The airport complex will be spread over 2,268 hectares of land, of which nearly 1,160 hectares will be used for aeronautical purposes.

The airport is being developed on a public-private partnership basis between government agency CIDCO and GVK-Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL). GVK will hold 74 per cent stake in the project.

What’s Special?

Parallel runways will measure 4,000 metres, each with two rapid exit taxiways.

Two entrances and exits planned. The southern tip of the runway to be constructed first as it lies at the base of Ulwe Hill, which is expected to be cut by December this year.

Facilities will include cargo terminal buildings, taxiways, an apron area, cargo complex, aircraft maintenance site and long-term aircraft parking, as well as additional infrastructure facilities such as car parking, a power supply system and a water treatment plant.

Passenger Handling

The airport is to be developed in phases. By the end of 2019, one runway and the terminal building will be ready.

First phase (deadline 2019): Up to 10 million passengers per annum (MPPA)

Second phase (deadline 2022): 25 MPPA

Third phase (deadline 2027) and fourth phase (deadline 2031): 60 MPPA

Total Cost & Initial Investment

The total project cost, including cost of the pre-development work, is estimated at Rs 16,704 crore. The cost of pre-development work is estimated at Rs 3,420 crore while the total package for compensation offered to 3,500 project-affected families is around ` 520 crore.

MIAL would have to invest nearly Rs 4,000 crore in the first phase, said sources. It is currently in talks with investment bankers to work out the modalities. Project-Affected Families

Ten villages in Navi Mumbai have been impacted by the proposed airport. Until now, CIDCO has rehabilitated close to 400 of the 3,500 affected families.

Each family has been offered alternative plots, monetary compensation, construction aid, rent allowances and additional amenities in Pushpak Nagar (where they will be rehabilitated).

The final compensation package was drafted in October 2017 after long protests by local people. The families will now get 22.5 per cent additional land if they are ceding land alone. Such families will be offered 100 shares from the NMIA airport project deal, plus an opportunity to find jobs at the new airport. For those losing land and houses, CIDCO will provide three times the square feet of land for the home, and aid them to build the new houses.

Mangrove Cover

CIDCO plans to plant almost five times of the mangrove cover lost, by allocating almost 615 hectares of land around the airport for a mangrove park. As many as 35 species of mangroves in the country will be represented in the mangrove park.

Getting There

Many high-speed corridors including road, rail lines and Metro corridors as well as a water transportation route are being planned to connect the eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai and the island city to the NMIA. CIDCO is also constructing the Navi Mumbai Metro, which will comprise five lines to link various towns in the Navi Mumbai region to the airport. The widening of National Highway 4-B will include an interchange at Kalamboli junction, allowing commuters from Pune to reach NMIA within 90 minutes.

Current Status 

CIDCO is undertaking pre-development work, which includes blasting of the Ulwe hill, using debris to re-fill the land, re-coursing of the Ulwe river for shifting of electrical lines. They expect to complete the work by early 2019. MIAL eyes a financial closure of the project by May this year.

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