‘2,000cr sanctioned to modernise airport’

Coimbatore: The Union government has sanctioned 2,000 crore for modernising the Coimbatore International Airport by constructing a new terminal capable of handling 15 million passengers per year, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Coimbatore (ICCIC) B Sriramulu said on Wednesday.
During a press meet held at the chamber on Avinashi Road, Sriramulu said he attended a meeting with secretary of civil aviation ministry Rajiv Bansal and senior officials in Delhi on Tuesday to discuss about the airport’s development. “The Centre is well aware of the difficulties faced by air passengers in Coimbatore due to lack of adequate facilities. Due to the delay in the airport expansion project, the airport is handling less than two million passengers per year. To enhance the capacity to 15 million per year, the Centre has come up with a plan. We were told that the plan is in the initial stages of the tender floating process,” he said.
Regarding land acquisition for the airport expansion project, Sriramulu said the district administration has completed almost 90% of the work. “The chamber had urged officials to develop the airport under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. We plan to meet chief minister M K Stalin to expedite the project.”
The Union government has plans to conduct a G20 summit sub-conference in Coimbatore, the ICCIC chief said. “Officials asked us to come up with suggestions for making arrangements for the conference to finalise the plan.” tnn