New Delhi, Aug 14 : The Government today gave its approval to the modernization or expansion of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (NSCBI) International Airport, Kolkata at an estimated cost of Rs. 1942.51 crores.

The work, which is expected to be completed within 30 months of award, will result in an additional passengers handling capacity of 20 Million Passengers Per Annum
(MPPA).

The airport will be upgraded to international standards, the secondary runway will be extended and made suitable for operations of large commercial aircrafts; the navigation facilities at the airport will also be upgraded, additional parking space and taxiways to facilitate parking and movement of aircraft will be created and the road or rail connectivity of the airport with the city will be improved.

It may be recalled that in April, 2007, the Committee on Infrastructure headed by the Prime Minister had decided that the Kolkata Airport would be developed to international standards by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with its own resources.

In October 2007, an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) cleared the proposal and in December 2007, Planning Commission accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for the development of NSCBI Airport, Kolkata. The Ministry for Environment gave approval to the project in March, 2008.

The Kolkata Airport had international traffic of 1.01 million and domestic traffic of 6.45 million in 2007-08. The airport had witnessed a 6.4 per cent growth in international traffic and 21.4 per cent growth in domestic traffic over the last five years.

It has been estimated that the Kolkata Airport will witness a combined growth of around 19 per cent per annum up to 2011-12. The growth rate thereafter is expected to stabilize at 14.5 per cent up to 2015-16. Based on these projections, Kolkata Airport is expected to handle 24.65 MPPA in 2015-16.

The total project cost is estimated to be Rs. 1942.51 crores including extension of the secondary runway to a total length of 3239 meters at an estimated cost of Rs. 35 crores: construction of 11 additional parking base for aircraft as well as taxi at an estimated cost of Rs. 65 crores, upgradation of CNS equipments etc. at an estimated cost of Rs. 185 crores and construction of grade separator and connectivity to railway structure at an estimated cost of Rs. 40 crore. (ANI)