L&T bags Mumbai airport contract

Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) bagged the Rs 5,500 crore contract to build a new terminal at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai by December 2012 that will replace the existing international terminal.

The new terminal will double the passenger handling capacity to 40 million a year and increase the apron space available to 8 lakh sq ft, enabling the airport to handle larger number of flights.

The airport will be able to handle 840-850 air traffic movements (landings and takeoffs), up from 630 today. The planned terminal will be used for both domestic and international flights.

The Santacruz terminal could be dedicated for low-cost carriers, said Sanjay Reddy, managing director of Mumbai International Airport (MIAL). The terminal is currently handling 26 million passengers a year.

The new terminal will be built in phases and come up in front of the existing international terminal at Sahar, which will be dismantled in phases.

In the interim, MIAL will upgrade the 2B and 2C terminals at Sahar by the second quarter of 2008, though they will be demolished later to house the new terminal.

L&T, which is also involved in building the greenfield airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad to be commissioned in the first quarter of next year, will build the new integrated passenger terminals besides modernising and expanding the existing facilities, which includes airside and landside works.

''It's a challenging, complex and landmark project for us and we hope to live up to expectations,'' said AM Naik, chairman, L&T.

''It's an operating airport, so we have to factor in the traffic and safety,'' said Sanjay Reddy. The challenge has been compounded by the fact that not a single drawing is available on the water and oil pipelines that lie underneath.

''So, when we start excavating, we have to ensure that it doesn't impact the airport in any way,'' added Reddy.

Also, 10,000-15,000 people will be involved in the construction activity, which will be by far the largest project taken up in Mumbai at a single location.

Meanwhile, MIAL is upgrading the terminals at Santacruz, which handle domestic flights. Terminal 1B has been upgraded at Rs 160 crore and 1A will be upgraded by March 2008 at a cost of Rs 75-80 crore.