CCI clears Delhi Aerocity, MIAL projects

The solution offered by CCI to the security woes would require hotels to erect glass walls around their buildings

The Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) on Wednesday cleared the Delhi Aerocity and Mumbai International Airport projects, freeing up huge hotel capacity in Delhi.

The CCI ordered Delhi Police would address issues related to area security and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) will be free to hire guards for perimeter security in and around the airport. This would also apply to the Mumbai airport, where Mumbai Police and Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) would do accordingly.

Built on a 43-acre parcel, Delhi Aerocity project was considered a security risk because of its proximity to the runway. The total investment in Aerocity is around Rs 8,000 crore, which will add an inventory of about 5,100 rooms spread across 16 hotels.

The solution offered by CCI to the security woes would require hotels to erect a glass wall around their buildings, the specification for which will be provided by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

Officials said it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who clinched the issue. He cited his own case to say that if a Prime Minister, whose security could never be compromised, was considered secure behind glass whenever he addressed the nation, the same criterion should be applied to a hotel and hence it could work well for all construction facing the airstrip or the hangar as well.

Various government agencies including Delhi Police, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing had raised security concerns over this first of its kind project in India. The government had even dispatched a team to Amsterdam to take lessons in managing Aerotropolis, to implement them back home. "We have been waiting for this. Since many agencies were involved, we had made representations to several important officials in the government. Finally, it has come through," said Patu Keswani, chairman and managing director, Lemon Tree Group of hotels.

While the other security agencies have agreed to the formula, Delhi Police is yet to come on board. Of the 16 hotels that are expected to come up, four are ready to open their doors this year including Lemon Tree, Red Fox, Ibis and JW Marriott.

For most of the others construction is in full swing. Aerocity, which was expected to have launched around the Commonwealth Games 2010, has incurred losses due to the delay in opening.

Similarly, security agencies had withheld clearance to the Rs 4,000-crore Mumbai airport project, due to objections against the airport having security check points before immigration. CCI pointed out that this was a common practice in many international airports including Tel Aviv and Paris.

Officials said that redesigning the airport to provide for security after immigration would entail an additional cost of Rs 400 crore.

Mumbai International Airport is a joint venture between a consortium led by GVK Airports, which owns 74 per cent, and the government-run Airports Authority of India, which holds 26 per cent.

Both these projects had been fast-tracked by the project monitoring group under the CCI in the last fortnight through negotiations, which finally led to the clearance on Wednesday.