AP, Hial working on railway, road access
International airport to become operational in 2008
| The Hyderabad International Airport Limited (Hial) is working with the Andhra Pradesh government to enable railway and road access for the Rs 1,418-crore airport that will become operational in the second quarter of 2008. |
| The international airport, which would see the closure of civil aviation operations at the existing airport in the city, is expected to finance the project through a mix of debt and equity. |
| The project will see an equity participation of 35 per cent equity and a debt component of 65 per cent with IDBI, ICICI and the Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) likely to be the major lenders. |
| The proposed railway access will see Hial working with the Indian Railways, the state government and IDFC. "The government of Andhra Pradesh has agreed to extend the existing multi modal transport system (MMTS) railway lines to the international airport," Kiran K Grandhi, managing director of Hial, said. |
| A joint venture project between the state government and the Indian railways for MMTS has been envisaged. Phase 1 of the MMTS extending from Secunderabad to Falaknuma and further to the airport site is expected to be completed before the commencement of commercial operations. |
| This apart, Hial is also working on increasing its road connectivity via NH-7 and the Srisailam highway. "The land for NH-7 has been acquired and the tendering process for Srisailam highway is underway," Grandhi said. |
| A 108-km outer ring road connecting Hitech City, Indian School of Business (ISB) and NH-7 to the airport site has also been planned. |
| The 5,400-acre international airport, Grandhi said, will break even in seven to eight years after it becomes operational. |
| "This means that we will break even when the air traffic movement ranges between 45,000 and 50,000 flight cycles a year," Grandhi added. The airport will also be the first public place in India to enable barrier-free access to the physically disabled. |
| It will also have a separate terminal for low cost carriers. |
| Hial is also in talks with various airlines to enable them to make the Hyderabad international airport their hub. "Air Sahara has already made Hyderabad its aviation hub. Other airlines are also now connected to Hyderabad. We also expect European carriers to start their operations in Hyderabad in the next two to three years," Grandhi said. |
| For the greenfield airport, Hial has been given a concession period of 60 years on a design, build, finance, operate and maintain basis. Hial will be operating both the airport and non-airport activities, with some activities like customs, immigration, security and meteorological being reserved for the Union government. |
| Hial will have to pay out a four per cent concession fee to the Centre on a yearly basis from its gross revenues. The Centre is also obliged to provide exclusivity to the airport and ensure that no new international or domestic airport be allowed to come up within 150 km of the area for 25 years from the day it starts its operations. |
| The first phase of the airport construction that will enable it to handle a traffic of five million passengers and one lakh tonnes of cargo a year, will be completed in 2008. Hial is also targeting to handle 20 million passengers a year by 2029.
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First Published: Dec 22 2004 | 12:00 AM IST