State to finish Shirdi airport on its own before Sai Baba utsav

The state government has decided to undertake remaining works on the under-construction Greenfield Shirdi airport through the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC).

The state cabinet on Tuesday decided to grant Rs100 crore to the agency for these works to ensure that the airport is commissioned before the Sai Baba Samadhi centenary utsav to be held in 2017-18, when a huge influx of devotees is expected.

"Instead of going in for the PPP model, the cabinet decided that the state government will finish phase II of the Shirdi airport project on its own," a senior state government official told dna.

He added that these works included extension of the runway to 3,200 metres from 2,200 metres, expanding the capacity of the terminal building to handle 300 passengers per hour, baggage scanner machine, ATC tower, firefighting systems, including a building, DVOR and night-landing facilities, and isolation way and water supply schemes. "The government will sanction an additional Rs100 crore to the MADC for this," the official said. The works will take around one year to be completed.

The revised administrative approval for the project has been hiked from Rs264 crore, approved in 2008, to Rs364 crore now. The Shirdi Sai Temple Trust has contributed Rs45 crore for the airport located at Kakdi in Kopargaon taluka near Shirdi. The state government's decision to undertake work on the airport without opting for PPP will help save time and operationalise non-scheduled flights before the centenary year.

"After the completion of the airport, operations and maintenance of the project will be given out on competitive bidding basis on a revenue-sharing model," the official said.

The state will also transfer 22 hectares of its land adjacent to the MADC free of cost to enable the construction of staff quarters and other facilities and prevent encroachments in the future.

Maharashtra has around 29 airports and airstrips, the highest in India, of which five (Navi Mumbai, Parule-Chipi, Pune, Solapur and Shirdi) are under construction or proposed, two are private (Amby Valley and Shirpur) and one is not in use (Phaltan). The Gondia and Nanded airports have night-landing facilities.

Despite having the highest number of airports and airstrips in India, only four airports, namely those at Mumbai, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nagpur, are commercially operational. The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport will reach its saturation point in a few years, even as work on the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport is yet to begin.

Maharashtra plans to announce a regional air connectivity policy after the one introduced by the Centre is finalised. This policy will attract investment by developing regional air connectivity at district and regional headquarters and smaller centres across Maharashtra.