Jewar airport might get green signal
Thanks To Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Mess, Noida airport may become a reality
The international airport at Greater Noida may end up becoming a reality after all -- and not because of a push from the Uttar Pradesh government led by Mayawati but thanks to a growing realisation at the Centre that their plans for capacity addition at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in the capital has almost fallen flat.
The civil aviation ministry officials and the Planning Commission were in for a rude shock on Monday, when during a review meeting on the modernization of the New Delhi international airport, they found that IGI's expansion, decongestion and modernization plans cleared by the Cabinet about a year back, have already proven insufficient.
Following the stock taking done by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday, the authorities realised that there is hardly any space left for expansion and no amount of changes in the design can do away the long queues at the immigration counters or at the baggage check-in counters which have always been there. They would need to set up a completely new structure to handle the burgeoning traffic at the airport.
Ahluwalia, who has been a staunch believer and supporter of privatisation, appeared to be the worst critic of the airport modernization programme and termed the performance of the GMR-led consortium, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), as `far from satisfactory'. He even suggested that DIAL should dismantle the existing VIP lounge and use the space to accommodate general passengers.
DIAL has assured that the number of immigration counters would be increased from 28 to 56 and check-in counters from 78 to 100 and the space of the four entry doors would be widened to accommodate two queues.
But they did admit that it would take at least half an hour for each passenger to go through the check-in process at the airport which has already seen a 29% increase in air travellers over the last year. For the hand baggage counters too, DIAL said that there is just enough space to set up just two more counters taking the total number of counters to 15 from the present 13.
According to DIAL's own estimates, the IGI has a capacity to handle just about 5 million passengers but is now handling over 8 million commuters. The number is expected to rise to 37 million by 2010 and 100 million by 2030. However, as per a study done by the Airport Authority of India, the number of air travellers is projected to touch the 108 million mark by 2015.
Incidentally, the government has recently revised the existing civil aviation policy for greenfield airport projects in the country to allow setting up of new airports within 150 km of another existing airport. While Greater Noida is within 150 km of IGI airport, the Greenfield policy allows for exemptions from this rule on a `case-by-case' basis.
Even the civil aviation ministry is leaning towards actualising the proposed Noida airport. Expressing its views on a cabinet proposal, the ministry has said that exclusivity rights were not granted to DIAL by the government. Hence, the proposal for the Greater Noida airport is not against any of the bidding conditions for IGI's modernization.
The proposed Taj International Aviation Hub (TIAH) in Jewar, near Greater Noida, estimated to cost Rs 5,000 crore is expected to handle 3.9 million passengers annually by 2012.
According to an estimate, the proposed airport would take 5% passenger traffic and 8% cargo traffic away from the Delhi airport in the first phase. The cargo traffic is expected to divert faster from the IGI airport and may reach over 20% by 2035, with the main reason being the airport's proximity to various industrial clusters.
The international airport at Greater Noida may end up becoming a reality after all -- and not because of a push from the Uttar Pradesh government led by Mayawati but thanks to a growing realisation at the Centre that their plans for capacity addition at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in the capital has almost fallen flat.
The civil aviation ministry officials and the Planning Commission were in for a rude shock on Monday, when during a review meeting on the modernization of the New Delhi international airport, they found that IGI's expansion, decongestion and modernization plans cleared by the Cabinet about a year back, have already proven insufficient.
Following the stock taking done by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday, the authorities realised that there is hardly any space left for expansion and no amount of changes in the design can do away the long queues at the immigration counters or at the baggage check-in counters which have always been there. They would need to set up a completely new structure to handle the burgeoning traffic at the airport.
Ahluwalia, who has been a staunch believer and supporter of privatisation, appeared to be the worst critic of the airport modernization programme and termed the performance of the GMR-led consortium, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), as `far from satisfactory'. He even suggested that DIAL should dismantle the existing VIP lounge and use the space to accommodate general passengers.
DIAL has assured that the number of immigration counters would be increased from 28 to 56 and check-in counters from 78 to 100 and the space of the four entry doors would be widened to accommodate two queues.
But they did admit that it would take at least half an hour for each passenger to go through the check-in process at the airport which has already seen a 29% increase in air travellers over the last year. For the hand baggage counters too, DIAL said that there is just enough space to set up just two more counters taking the total number of counters to 15 from the present 13.
According to DIAL's own estimates, the IGI has a capacity to handle just about 5 million passengers but is now handling over 8 million commuters. The number is expected to rise to 37 million by 2010 and 100 million by 2030. However, as per a study done by the Airport Authority of India, the number of air travellers is projected to touch the 108 million mark by 2015.
Incidentally, the government has recently revised the existing civil aviation policy for greenfield airport projects in the country to allow setting up of new airports within 150 km of another existing airport. While Greater Noida is within 150 km of IGI airport, the Greenfield policy allows for exemptions from this rule on a `case-by-case' basis.
Even the civil aviation ministry is leaning towards actualising the proposed Noida airport. Expressing its views on a cabinet proposal, the ministry has said that exclusivity rights were not granted to DIAL by the government. Hence, the proposal for the Greater Noida airport is not against any of the bidding conditions for IGI's modernization.
The proposed Taj International Aviation Hub (TIAH) in Jewar, near Greater Noida, estimated to cost Rs 5,000 crore is expected to handle 3.9 million passengers annually by 2012.
According to an estimate, the proposed airport would take 5% passenger traffic and 8% cargo traffic away from the Delhi airport in the first phase. The cargo traffic is expected to divert faster from the IGI airport and may reach over 20% by 2035, with the main reason being the airport's proximity to various industrial clusters.