M'shtra nod for Nagpur airport upgrade JV

The Maharashtra cabinet has approved the proposal for setting up a joint venture (JV) for modernisation and expansion of the Nagpur airport.

The airport will be a part of the Multi Modal air cargo and Passenger Hub project.

"The government's fully-owned corporation, Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) will form a JV in which MADC will hold 51 per cent and AAI will hold 49 per cent," said chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

"The JV company will be handed over Nagpur's present airport by the AAI at the nominal lease of Rs 1 per year for 99 years," he said.

The Mihan project is a part of SEZ project, which will come up in the vicinity of the Nagpur airport. The SEZ will be spread over 1,400 hectare and companies such as Satyam, GE, L&T, DEL etc. have purchased land to set up their facilities.

The state government was constantly demanding the transfer of Nagpur Airport to Mihan by the AAI for implementation of Mihan and SEZ projects.

However, owing to issues such as lease rate and whether AAI should be part of the Mihan project etc there was delay on AAI's part to take any decision.

Also, it has become major bone of contention between the state government and civil aviation ministry.