The City and Industrial Develoment Corporation (Cidco), the nodal agency for development of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, has crossed yet another hurdle. The state government has in principle decided to hand over the 150 hectares of land required. The government is expected to soon complete the necessary formalities in this regard. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had recently met chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, to expedite the land handover. The market value is around Rs 500 crore.
Cidco has been striving to acquire the remaining 713 hectares out of the total 2,054 hectares. With the government’s move to hand over 150 hectares, Cidco would still have to acquire 563 hectares of land for which notices have been served under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to villagers of Pargaon and Owale. These villagers are demanding a compensation of Rs 20 crore per acre.
Cidco chairman Pamod Hindurao told Business Standard, “The deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has taken an initiative in this regard and the government’s formal order of handing over 150 hectares of land for the airport project, is expected soon. Negotiations with villagers are currently on and I am hopeful that a consensus will emerge to pave way for smooth acquisition of the balance land.” He said that he would soon review the status of the development of Navi Mumbai international airport.
Hindurao said all efforts would be made to make the airport’s first phase operational in 2014. The airport would handle 10 million passengers per annum (MPPA) in phase-I and about 60 MPPA in the final phase by 2030. R C Gharat, advisor to the airport for project-affected persons said, their negotiations with the committee headed by the Konkan divisional commissioner had not progressed much, as villagers were firm on the compensation of Rs 20 crore per acre.
