The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation has issued a revised Expression of Interest (EoI) for conducting an Economic Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed airport at Anakkara in Idukki.
The KSIDC has extended the duration of the study from three months to four months.
Though inviting EoI for conducting the study is a major step towards the realisation of the project, it was also pointed out that the study could not be completed in three months, as stipulated in the notice. “The decision by KSIDC to revise the period for conducting the study upholds the argument that it cannot be completed in three months.
Even a random assessment of the economic impact would require at least three months,” said a Kochibased aviation expert.
The study is being conducted to review the present norms guiding the location and development of Greenfield airports in India.
A Greenfield airport refers to one built from scratch at a new location because the existing airport cannot meet the projected requirements of the area.
The study will also seek to identify the technical and economic factors influencing the proposed feeder airport in Idukki, and also to evaluate their positive and negative effects on the project, in both qualitative and quantitative terms.
Further, the commercial potential of the proposed airport and a strategic plan for its development will also be checked.
However Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) director A C K Nair believes the study could be completed on time if the agency assigned with the task deploys a dedicated team.
“Finishing the job in this time span is not an impossible job,” Nair said.
The state government had identified 450 hectares (around 1,100 acres) of land at Anakkara for the airport and a Feasibility Study by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) in 2009 had found the area ideal for the airport.
The Idukki district administration had submitted a Feasibility Report for the project to Airport Authority of India (AAI) in 2011.
The airport is expected to further boost tourism in Idukki district and serve as a convenient embarkation point to larger airports for people living in the neighbouring districts of Kottayam, Ernakulam and Alappuzh