Delhi airport in Rs 8,500 crore facelift

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) will be the first airport in the country to have a new integrated common terminal for both international and domestic passengers, a third runway of 4,430 metres length (longest in Asia) and a host of dining and recreational services, which will require a cumulative investment of Rs 8,500 crore over the next four years.

United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, while laying the foundation stone of the modernisation of the Delhi airport here today, said the facility was expected to be a benchmark in the international aviation services, and would serve as a portal to Delhi.

"The mega modernisation of the airport is testimony of the new surgance of the Indian infrastructure. The volume created by the new facility will make air travel more affordable and also encourage domestic entrepreneurship in the aviation industry," she said.

The new runway is expected to finish by 2008, and will make DIAL the first in the country to handle Airbus-380, the largest aircraft in the world.

With an eye on the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the integrated terminal will augment the annual passenger handling capacity from the present 16.24 million to 37 million.

A new high speed direct Metro rail link connecting Connaught Place to the airport is also on the anvil before the sports extravaganza.

The new airport facilities will increase three-fold and have 74 aerobridges and 30 remote stands with the potential of parking 200 aircraft. A new multi-level parking facility for 4,300 cars will also come up.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the acquisition of land is creating big hurdles for the government and his ministry has suggested that private entrepreneurs, with the required amount of land, should be allowed to build greenfield airports in the country.

"Already there are problems over land acquisition in special economic zones. I have asked the finance ministry and the Planning Commission to revisit the policy on airports," he said.