Outer ring road, intl airport on fast track: YSR

The Andhra Pradesh government is now in the process of evaluating the two parallel proposals offered by the Dubai and Chinese governments on the over Rs 6,000-crore outer ring road (ORR) project. The best of the two will be thrown open to the Swiss Challenge method, according to chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

The chief minister, who reviewed the progress of the new greenfield Hyderabad International Airport being developed by the GMR-led consortium here on Thursday, also said that about 16 companies had so far been shortlisted to participate in the Swiss Challenge. He said the project would be completed in a span of one-and-a-half years.

Betting big on infrastructure development in and around the state capital to showcase Hyderabad as the future destination of both global and national investors, the chief minister said along with the new airport, the 160-km eight-lane ORR, scheduled to be completed at the same time, would make the city one-of-its-kind in India. The Rs 1,760-crore airport project is scheduled to become operational in March 2008 after receiving the statutory clearances post completion. The competition of the airport project will be in November 2007.

The chief minister's visit to the airport site marked the completion of exactly one year when UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the project. Since then, the two EPC contractors -- L&T for airside and landside works and Hong Kong-based China State Construction & Engineering for passenger terminal building works "� have achieved a remarkable progress, Reddy said. Close to 15 per cent work on the passenger terminal building has been completed in the last five-month period while eight per cent of the work on the airside and landside has been completed during the same period, according to project promoters.

Keeping in line with the strategic requirement in terms of connectivity with the new international airport, the work on ORR will commence by the end of April 2006, the said. Besides, a 12-km express way with an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore, which is designed to connect the international airport via Mehdipatnam on the existing inner ring road would also be awarded to bidders through the Swiss Challenge method.

Responding to a question, GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIL) managing director Kiran Kumar Grandhi said the concept for the above express way was prepared by the GMR Group and they would be in fray to undertake the BOT project too.

GHIL is a joint venture company promoted by GMR Group (63 per cent), Malyasia Airports Holding Berhad (11 per cent), state government (13 per cent) and Airports Authority of India (13 %). During the current financial year, shell of passenger terminal building, air traffic control tower, majority of the runway work are expected to be completed.

Phase 1 of the airport project is designed to handle 7 million passengers annually.