Pune, Nagpur airport projects stuck over land acquisition

While the Navi Mumbai airport project has been cleared, two other big ticket projects in Maharashtra — the cargo hub in Nagpur and the international airport at Rajgurunagar in 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 land are undulated and will require levelling. This will push up costs, an official said.

“We are exploring alternate land in the vicinity of current site,’’ said Nandkumar Jantre, secretary (civil aviation) of Maharashtra government. Shifting of location would mean that technical feasibility from Airport 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 as alternative

MADC officials said they are looking to acquire 2,500-3,000 hectares for the second airport in Pune. It will be capable of handling 20 million passengers annually and total estimated cost including commercial development and land acquisition is Rs 7,000 crore, according to Maharshtra Airport Development Company.

The second Pune airport has been on drawing board for over last five years. After discarding two-three locations the civil aviation ministry gave its nod for airport at Rajgurunagar, 35 kms from Pune. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation began land acquisition process for airport five years ago but subsequently project was handed over to MADC. But MADC made no progress in acquiring land as it did not get necessary funds from the state and was unable to borrow from banks to finance land acquisition.

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 second runway, new terminal building and a cargo complex through build-operate-transfer basis but the government is still to finalise rehabilitation package for affected villages. The existing airport covers 400 hectares and additional 1,000 heactres is being acquired for expansion.

“Mihan India Private Limited, a joint venture of AAI and MADC was formed in August 2009 to run Nagpur airport. But joint venture is only for 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 taxiway to connect Boeing’s MRO. The taxiway has become necessary as MRO is expected to be ready by December 2012 and it has no connectivity to exisiting runway. Work on second runway can begin if land acquisition is complete and will take two years for 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 of airport. The construction of taxiway will cost about Rs 45 crore 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 chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan. Thereafter it will require the cabinet nod and approval of state rehabilitation authority. “The real question is whether the government will go ahead with acquiring land immediately following controversy in acquisition of farm land in Noida,’’ a government official remarked.