GVK to wrest back India's tallest ATC tower crown from rival GMR

GVK Power and Infrastructure is all set to take back the distinction of having country's tallest air traffic control tower (ATCT) from rival GMR Infrastructure as it plans to erect a towering 105-metre structure at the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).

Once complete, it will replace 101.9-metre tower at GMR-run Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) as the tallest ATCT in the country, and would also be among one of the tallest in the world.

The tower at IGIA, which took over four years to complete and was built at a cost of around Rs 350 crore, grabbed the coveted title of being India's tallest ATCT from GVK's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) at Mumbai, which monitors the aircraft movement from the height of 84 metre or nearly as high as a 30-storey building.

The ATCT at CSIA was inaugurated in October 2013 and built at a cost of Rs 110 crore; it also boasts of modern equipment worth Rs 35 crore.

According to an internal note prepared by GVK-promoted Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIA), a study was conducted as a part of master plan to determine the optimal position for the ATCT. Multiple locations across the airport were identified for the ATCT and a structured methodology was applied to assess the most appropriate location and the optimal height. The air-side location adjacent to Terminal 2 was deemed most suitable for the ATCT. However, since this location is outside the initial development area and could not be built ahead of Terminal 2 due to design and construction issues, the airport management is contemplating constructing an interim ATCT.

"The permanent ATCT will be developed at a later stage to serve the airport's northern runway and entire airfield," the note assessed by DNA Money reads.

As per the plans, Navi Mumbai airport will ultimately handle 80–90 aircraft movements per hour. It will have two parallel runways separated from each other by 1,560 metre. Both the runways are expected to operate independently and handle 40-45 aircraft movements per hour each.

The note adds that it is expected that one set of the controllers will be controlling traffic on the northern part of the airport (which includes the North runway) and another set of controllers will handle the southern part of the airport (which includes the South runway). The consoles for North runway and South runway will be clustered in two groups and located inside the ATC.

A spokesperson for NMIA refused to comment.

GVK which also earlier ran the Bengaluru airport had in February last year won the right to build Mumbai's second airport in Navi Mumbai, beating arch-rival GMR. GVK offered to share 12.60% of the revenue of the new airport with City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco). GMR, which runs the Delhi and Hyderabad airports, had offered 10.44%.

GVK and GMR were the only bidders in the race for the right to build the Rs 17,000 crore NMIA, which has been planned to reduce the burden on Mumbai's congested airport. However, sources said that GMR was never interested in attaining NMIA from the start but was persuaded by the government to participate in the bid.

In April 2016, there were reports about MIAL seeking an environment clearance for construction of ATC in an alternative location in Kalina area. However, MIAL explained that as it is one of the options in the long-term plan and there is no plan to shift the existing tower.