The Vice Chairman and Managing Director of MADC, RC Sinha announced that Thane municipal district might soon have a third airport.
It might be boom time for airports in Mumbai in particular and the state of Maharashtra in general. Barely a few weeks after the cabinet gave a nod to the Navi Mumbai airport, the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation MADC), RC Sinha announced that Thane municipal district might soon have a third airport. If plans come through, this will be the second major project for MADC, which was created to develop the Nagpur airport.
Speaking at a three-day aviation summit in the city on Tuesday, Sinha said Thane might get a domestic airport, with some possibility of cargo operations. There are also plans for five new airports, adding to the already existing 21 airports in the state. Sinha added that the state has not totally abandoned the idea of using the Juhu airport exclusively for smaller ATR aircrafts, for the purpose of segregation.
“The idea is still in the developmental stage, and is futuristic. But, the state has already started planning for the same. The first round of discussions with the Civil Aviation Secretary was held last week. The chief minister has also been made aware of the plans. The need for the third airport will arise when the other two airports will reach saturation,” said Sinha.
The Thane Collector has already been asked to identify a plot area of about 1,008 acres and convey it to the MADC. Sinha clarified that the airport would be in a public-private partnership and be located at a distance of 40 kilometres from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Beside this, MADC is also looking at developing five new airports in the cities of Shirdi, Sholapur, Jalgaon, Bhusawal and Chandrapur.
The state government would be looking for a private equity investment in so far as the development of the non-aeronautical or landside facilities around these airports is concerned.
Outlining the different phases of development these projects are in, Sinha said, land has already been identified for the airport at Shirdi, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation report is awaited for the one at Sholapur.
Sinha also said that civil aviation can move from being a Union List subject to a Concurrent List subject, keeping in mind the recent changes in the aviation sector. If this were to happen, Sinha reasoned that states can then have a more constructive role as far as the developmental needs of the airports in their cities is concerned.
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