3.12.12

Aerotropolis snippets


The first flight from Aerotropolis, the country’s first airport city being built at Andal in Burdwan, will take off on Poila Boisakh — the first day of the Bengali calendar.
Representatives of Changi Airports International, which has 26% equity stake in Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd’s (BAPL) Rs 10,000-crore project, met the state government officials recently to discuss the ground reality. Referring to the meeting, state urban development minister Firhad Hakim said work was progressing steadily at the site. Speaking on the sidelines of the last day of Bengal Builds at the Milan Mela ground, the minister also said the airport will start functioning on Poila Boisakh.
“Work of the Aerotropolis project is going on well now and the first flight from there will take off on Poila Baisakh,” the minister said. “To begin with, around 15 planes will fly to and from the Aerotropolis,” he added.
Sources said that BAPL had initiated talks with several major carriers some time back for operating in the Aerotropolis. BAPL also made presentations to the network planning groups of airlines and came up with route-plan suggestions.
Highly placed officials said the state government wanted Changi to increase its share in the project and that the group may do so provided the government gives them the required facilities. The Asansol Durgapur Development Authority is working with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) to provide the necessary infrastructure. The WBIDC had earlier handed over 1,818 acre to BAPL for the project.

AIRPORT CITY GETS TAILWIND
2006 : The erstwhile Left Front govt conceives the project. It gets delayed due to land acquisition problem Sept 2008 : Coal India raises objection. The project site gets realigned
Oct 2009 : The govt hands over the first tranche of land —533.51 acre. Sets Sept 2011 target for completion of the project
April 2012 : The coal ministry objects as it feels the Aerotropolis and mining could not co-exist without affecting one another
Passenger traffic of about 3,50,000 is expected in the first year on the back of a huge catchment area of Durgapur, Asansol, Dhanbad and Kulti. It is expected to rise by 12% in another year
It is expected to generate 40,000 direct and indirect jobs initially

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