Airport terminal may take 3 yrs

Airport at Ahmedabad does not figure in the initial modernisation plan

With the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad missing from the list of the 10 airports to be modernised in the first phase under an Airports Authority of India (AAI) plan, a full-fledged new terminal building at the airport is not likely to come up in at least the next three years.

The Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel has recently allocated Rs 5,000 crore for modernisation of 20 airports in the country. The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is not in the minister's top 10 list.

The minister had earlier put on hold the development work on the new terminal building at the international airport and had called for a high-level meeting with the Airports Authority of India officials in New Delhi to decide the fate of the new terminal, but nothing has happened so far.

"Development of new terminal building at the international airport is a subject matter of the Airports Authority of India and the civil aviation ministry. So far, I have not received any response from the central government. However, we expect the government to take a positive step soon," said Anil Patel, state minister for civil aviation and industries.

The modernisation of 20 airports will be undertaken by the Airports Authority of India. The civil aviation ministry has also firmed up a Rs 5,000 crore modernisation plan for 20 airports.

AAI will undertake the modernisation of the non-metro airports and the ministry have identified 20 airports for this purpose.

As a part of this project, the government will take steps to modernise and upgrade the city side terminals of about ten airports initially. Apart from the four metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the non-metro airports under consideration of the government include Jaipur, Udaipur, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Thiruvananthapuram in the first phase, while Ahmedabad will have to wait for the second phase of modernisation plans.

According to the ministry, the plan to upgrade non-metro airports by the Airports Authority of India will be set in motion by early 2005 and is expected to be completed by December 2006.

"We have not received any instruction from the civil aviation ministry so far. The minister has put on hold the development plans of the new international airport during his last visit to the state two months back. Even if the minister sanctions new plans for the development of the new terminal building. It will take at least three years for the new terminal to be operational," N S Jaladhari, airport director, said.

Earlier, the AAI had approved in principle the plan for the facelift of domestic and international terminals of the airport. Over Rs 300 crore has already been allocated for the facelift and the work was expected to be completed in the next two years.

The project included construction of the new international terminal building at a cost of over Rs 100 crore.