Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday directed fast-tracking of major infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including building of two new international airports – one each at Navi Mumbai and Pune, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
A meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan also discussed the Mumbai Elevated Rail Corridor Project, which envisages investment of Rs 20,000 crore to build additional suburban traffic capacity over 60 km.
“The meeting discussed key infrastructure projects in Maharashtra which needed to be fast-tracked so that infrastructure in Mumbai and other major cities of the state remain in the forefront of development,” the PMO statement said.
The Mumbai Elevated Rail Corridor is likely to face an indefinite delay as it is being reworked, marking a setback to the ambitious rapid transport project.
“It was agreed that a fresh traffic study would be conducted taking into account the traffic capacity being created by the new Mumbai Metro line which is partially on the same alignment. The modalities on moving ahead with the project would also be finalised soon after that,” a PMO statement said.
Apart from new airports at Navi Mumbai and Pune the capacity of the airport at Nagpur would be expanded, the statement said.
According to the statement, the most significant breakthrough was on the Navi Mumbai International Airport. The statement also said all decks have been cleared to move ahead on this and it is likely that the project will be awarded by March 31, next year.
Capacity of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai is expected peak by 2015, to meet the increased passenger traffic projections building of a new airport has become imperative.