Jewar Airport Unlikely To Take Off
Mayawati's Airport Dream Unlikely To Take Off At The National Capital Region (NCR)
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's all-out effort to pull down the UPA government is likely to take its toll on her pet project -- an aviation hub at Jewar near Greater Noida. The grand plan to build a second airport in the national capital region (NCR) is unlikely to take off in the near future as the central government is in no mood to throw its weight behind the project due to the recent changes in political equations.
Current indications are that further clearances for the project and the Centre's support may not be forthcoming. "The matter is pending with a Group of Ministers (GoM) which is looking into the legal aspects of the proposed project. We should wait for their comment and observation," a government official said.
The Union Cabinet gave its in-principle approval to the Greater Noida airport at the beginning of this year, but the issue of compensating the GMR Group which runs the Delhi airport is pending.
The GMR group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which is upgrading the Delhi airport with large investments, was quietly resisting the Greater Noida airport project. DIAL's fear is that the new facility would take away part of its future revenue, and the concern is more significant now since passenger traffic is suffering negative growth. According to current rule, no international airport can come up within 150 km of another without prior government approval.
Some months ago, the Greater Noida airport plan was referred to the law ministry for its vetting. Once the law ministry gives its comment on the legal issues involved with the project, it would be taken up by the GoM ,which is headed by finance minister P Chidambaram. Other members of the GoM, which has met only once so far, include law minister HR Bhardwaj, civil aviation minister Praful Patel and science & technology minister Kapil Sibal.
The proposed airport is located about 70 km from the Delhi airport. GMR has maintained that the Delhi airport would have the capacity to handle 37 million passengers by 2010, far more than the expected demand of 29 million passengers annually. GMR's view is that it would meet the projected demand of 80 million passengers by 2026, as the Delhi airport's capacity would be expanded to handle 100 million passengers by that year.
The UPA government's new ally Samajwadi Party is expected to lobby with the Centre to shift the airport project to Etawah, the constituency of its chief Mulayam Singh.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's all-out effort to pull down the UPA government is likely to take its toll on her pet project -- an aviation hub at Jewar near Greater Noida. The grand plan to build a second airport in the national capital region (NCR) is unlikely to take off in the near future as the central government is in no mood to throw its weight behind the project due to the recent changes in political equations.
Current indications are that further clearances for the project and the Centre's support may not be forthcoming. "The matter is pending with a Group of Ministers (GoM) which is looking into the legal aspects of the proposed project. We should wait for their comment and observation," a government official said.
The Union Cabinet gave its in-principle approval to the Greater Noida airport at the beginning of this year, but the issue of compensating the GMR Group which runs the Delhi airport is pending.
The GMR group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which is upgrading the Delhi airport with large investments, was quietly resisting the Greater Noida airport project. DIAL's fear is that the new facility would take away part of its future revenue, and the concern is more significant now since passenger traffic is suffering negative growth. According to current rule, no international airport can come up within 150 km of another without prior government approval.
Some months ago, the Greater Noida airport plan was referred to the law ministry for its vetting. Once the law ministry gives its comment on the legal issues involved with the project, it would be taken up by the GoM ,which is headed by finance minister P Chidambaram. Other members of the GoM, which has met only once so far, include law minister HR Bhardwaj, civil aviation minister Praful Patel and science & technology minister Kapil Sibal.
The proposed airport is located about 70 km from the Delhi airport. GMR has maintained that the Delhi airport would have the capacity to handle 37 million passengers by 2010, far more than the expected demand of 29 million passengers annually. GMR's view is that it would meet the projected demand of 80 million passengers by 2026, as the Delhi airport's capacity would be expanded to handle 100 million passengers by that year.
The UPA government's new ally Samajwadi Party is expected to lobby with the Centre to shift the airport project to Etawah, the constituency of its chief Mulayam Singh.