Pune, Nagpur airport projects stuck

While the Navi Mumbai airport project has been cleared for take off, two other big-ticket projects in Maharashtra - a cargo hub in Nagpur and an international airport at Rajgurunagar near Pune - are grounded because of delays in land acquisition.

Owing to protests over acquisition of agricultural land and other concerns, state government officials feel the Rajgurunagar site may not be feasible. Also, large portions of the land are undulated and require levelling.

This will push up costs, an official said. "We are exploring alternate land in the vicinity,'' said Nandkumar Jantre, the state government's secretary (civil aviation).

Shifting of the location would mean technical feasibility clearance from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would have to be taken afresh and this could cause more delays. Jantre said private and government owned land near Rajgurunagar is being examined.

Maharashtra Airport Development Committee officials said they were looking to acquire 2,500-3,000 hectares for a second airport in Pune.

It is to be capable of handling 20 million passengers annually and the total estimated cost, including commercial development and land acquisition, was Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion).

A second Pune airport has been on the drawing board for over five years. After discarding a couple of locations, the Union civil aviation ministry gave its nod for an airport at Rajgurunagar, 35 km from Pune.

Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation began land acquisition five years ago but subsequently the project was handed over to MADC.

But MADC made no progress, as it did not get the needed necessary funds from the state and was unable to borrow from banks to finance land acquisition.

Nagpur

In Nagpur, the airport expansion and cargo hub has been stuck as about 300 hectares of land is yet to be acquired.

The plan involves construction of a second runway, a new terminal building and a cargo complex through a build-operate-transfer basis but the government is still to finalise a rehabilitation package for affected villages.

The existing airport covers 400 hectares and an additional 1,000 heactres is being acquired.

"Mihan India Pvt Ltd, a  joint venture of AAI and MADC, was formed in August 2009 to run Nagpur airport. But it is only in name, as 150 employees of AAI have refused to join the new company,'' a government official said.

Co-ordination issues between state and Centre persist.  A case in point is construction of a taxiway to connect Boeing's proposed Maintenance and Research Organisation (MRO).

The taxiway has become necessary as the MRO is expected to be ready by December 2012 and it has no connectivity to the exisiting runway.

Work on a second runway can begin if land acquisition is complete. It will take two years for the runway to be functional.

"The joint venture company has the mandate to run and manage the airport but the MRO is situated outside the operational area. The construction of taxiway will cost about Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) but there is no agreement whether the JV company or MADC will bear the cost,'' the official added.

State officials have prepared a draft rehabilitation plan for villagers displaced by Nagpur airport and this is yet to be approved by the Cabinet and the state rehabilitation authority.

"The real question is whether the government will go ahead with acquiring land immediately, following the controversy on acquisition of farm land in Noida,'' a government official remarked.