Chakan Airport update

The Chakan airport project is likely to get further delayed with the government yet to disburse the seed capital of Rs 200 crore sanctioned a month back. And now the forthcoming elections will further add to the delay of the project even as Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel looks at a 2010-11 deadline for the project. The state government had given the final nod for setting up an international airport at Chakan last month, with Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar stressing the need for early disbursement of funds before the election code of conduct comes in place. However, the funds were not disbursed and now the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) is helpless and cannot go ahead with the project. “We have not got the requisite funds from the government. Only when the funds are deposited with the land acquisition officer, can we start the process of land acquisition. We also need to appoint a consultant for the technofeasibility study,” said general manager of MADC Ramesh Yaul.
The MADC plans to acquire 3,365 hectares instead of the original plan of 2,565 hectares for the airport project for which 1,500 hectares would be used for the airport, cargo space, maintenance and hangars. While 500 hectares would go back to landowners as part of the state government’s rehabilitation policy, the remaining 1,300 hectares would be utilised for development projects.
The MADC which got the development rights from Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) a year back will now have to re-acquire the land under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 which would again be a cumbersome process. An MADC official said the entire process of re-acquiring land and development of the project after a techno-feasibility study would take at least three years which would of course cross the deadline put forth by the civil aviation minister. “Even re-acquiring land would increase the costs that is estimated over Rs 1,000 crore,” said Yaul. “The techno-feasibility report which will be prepared by the consultants requires an approval from the Aviation and Environment Ministries,” said Yaul. The project is to come up three kms from Rajgurunagar at Chandoos, Shiroli, Waki Budruk, Koregaon Budruk, Kiwle, Pimpri Thakur and Wadgaon.