The modernisation and development of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport would be completed by May 2011, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here today.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) would meet the entire expense of modernisation and development, pegged at Rs 1,942 crore, Patel said, while laying the foundation stone for the project.
Besides Kolkata, AAI would also undertake the modernisation of Chennai airport and other non-metro airports.
AAI Chairman K Ramalingam said that modernisation and development of the airport would entail a new integrated passenger terminal, extension of the secondary runway, new control tower and improved communicational and navigational aids.
It would be constructed by a Bangkok-based firm and has been designed by two entities based in Paris and Hong Kong.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the upgrade of the Kolkata airport would be in consonance with the government's 'Look East policy' since the city was the gateway to the Northeast and other South East Asian countries.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya said that upgrade of the airport was definitely required. airport