PATNA: Around 25% of work on the new terminal building and other auxiliary buildings at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport here has been completed and the project is likely to be completed by March 2023.
The ongoing expansion work at the airport was reviewed by Shree Kumar S, executive director (engineering) of Airports Authority of India (AAI), on Sunday. He held discussions with the officials concerned to know the progress of the project and also inspected the construction site.
K S Vijayan, general manager (engineering), projects, AAI-Patna said the meeting was a routine exercise to review the ongoing work at the airport. “The project has been delayed due to the Covid-induced lockdown. Later on, we faced problem in transportation of construction materials. Work will now be expedited for timely completion of the project,” he said.
Vijayan said the technical block, fire station, cargo complex, air traffic control (ATC) tower, residential quarters and the multi-level car parking would be ready by May.
Work on redevelopment of Patna airport was taken up in 2019 to cater to the rising traffic growth. The project entails an expenditure of Rs 1,216 crore. The two-storey terminal building will have the departure lounge on the first floor and arrival area on the ground floor. It will handle up to 80 lakh passengers per year.
The upcoming terminal building at the airport will be equipped with 52 check-in counters, in-line baggage handling system, five conveyers for arriving passengers and five aerobridges. The interiors will highlight the rich culture, art and heritage of Bihar. The MLCP will be connected with the departure level of the new terminal building through a link bridge for pedestrian movement.
It will be a four-star Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) rated and an energy-efficient building.