The much-delayed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) project has finally taken off with prominent hurdles being cleared. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is targeting the end of 2024 for the first phase of the airport to be ready as the developmental work for the project has begun.
The project is coming up on 2,268ha of land of which the actual airport would be built on 1,160 ha. The project is expected to cost ₹16,700Cr.
The project has been taken over by Adani group recently. The project had been facing issues of land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement due to opposition from the locals for years. The Adani group concessionaire had demanded that the entire project land be handed over to it before it starts the actual development.
Shifting the villages was a major task for CIDCO. Ten villages falling in the core airport area had to be shifted with 3,000 families affected. A record 22.5% developed land compensation and other incentives were offered to the PAPs. There were also issues of environmental and other permissions from the Central and State Governments due to the delay in the project and also change in the concessionaire, which required new permissions.
CIDCO said all these issues have now been resolved.
CIDCO vice-chairman and managing director, Sanjay Mukherjee, said, “CIDCO and NMIAL have put in Herculean efforts for putting this project on track. We are very pleased that the project that was first conceived in 1997 has finally taken off full throttle. Land acquisition, rehabilitation and also predevelopment civil works have all been completed by CIDCO. This is one of the most important steps towards successful execution of the project.”
He added that NMIAL has obtained all clearances and financial closure has been achieved. Mukherjee added, “CIDCO has handed over the site to NMIAL, which has commenced the work of the airport in full steam.”
