Punjab to start land acquisition for Mohali int'l airport

Punjab will start acquiring land for setting up Mohali International Airport, a joint venture between the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Great Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), from December.

It is estimated that the government will acquire nearly 300 acres for the project, spending Rs 300-500 crore.

It will be the second international airport in Punjab after Amritsar. According to plans, the existing infrastructure of the civil-cum-defence airport at Chandigarh would be integrated into the Mohali international airport.

The project includes building an international terminal near the existing Chandigarh Indian Air Force base and further expansion of domestic terminal.

Also, the existing runway will be expanded to handle large passenger aircraft. In the proposed project, the AAI will have 51 per cent stake while 49 per cent stake will be held by the GMADA.

Civil Aviation Secretary Viswajit Khanna said: "The state will acquire land for the project while the AAI will build the infrastructure."

Earlier, the Centre had cleared the decks for setting up an international airport in Mohali adjoining Chandigarh. Also it had agreed to buy a 51 percent stake in the airport project.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal said: "With the clearance to the international airport, the process of modernising infrastructure in the state would get a further boost."

The state government has already announced that the international airport at Mohali would be named after freedom fighter Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh.

Experts say there was an urgent need to set up an international airport at Mohali as 40 per cent of international air passenger traffic at New Delhi airport was of Punjabis.

Further to give a boost to the aviation sector, the state government has proposed to set up of a civil aviation university to cater the need to equip and train the personnel in this field.

The state government has also cleared proposals to set up three flying training schools on a public-private partnership basis.