Navi Mumbai airport nod in a month, says Praful Patel

The civil aviation ministry expects to complete the first phase of building the Navi Mumbai international airport by 2014-15.

Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel said he is positive that the final approval for the airport will be in place in a month.

He was speaking at the awards function organised by the Gems and Jewellery Exports Promotion Council in the city on Monday evening.

“The airport should have been operational by 2011. However, we will now push for the first phase to be completed by 2014-15,” he said. He did not explain what kind of construction the first phase will entail.

“The Navi Mumbai airport is very much under the active consideration of the ministry of environment and forests, and I am also in dialogue with my colleague Jairam Ramesh,” Patel said, referring to the environment minister.

“I have made it clear that the airport location cannot change. We do not wish to come in the way of the environment ministry’s suggestions, but some meeting point is needed. I am confident that within a month’s time, this airport will get its final approval,” Patel said.

As for the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Mumbai International Airport, the minister expects slum rehabilitation work underway at the site to be completed over the next three years.

As many as 23,000 of the 83,000 slums in the periphery of the airport will be moved by the year-end, Patel said.

“The rest will be shifted in 2-3 years,” he said.