Navi Mumbai airport first phase likely by 2019: Sinha

First phase of aircraft operations at the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport is expected to be functional by December 2019, the government said on Thursday.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said the Navi Mumbai airport project has received all approvals except stage-II forest clearance, which is expected shortly.

The request for proposal (RFP) and bid documents were issued to the qualified bidders on May 4.

"Selection of concessionaire on PPP (public private partnership) basis shall be finalised by December 2016. All major clearances have been obtained. 160 hectares have been acquired. Resettlement and rehabilitation awards are declared," Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"... Phase I of aircraft operations with capacity to handle 10 million passengers per annum is expected to commence by December 2019."

In a separate written reply, Sinha said the Airports Authority of India (AAI) renovated the Jalgaon airport in Maharashtra to facilitate flight operations at a cost of Rs 57 crore.

"Presently, there is no scheduled flights to Jalgaon and no airlines have shown any interest to commence passenger or cargo service from/to this airport," the minister noted.