Navi Mumbai: Amid ongoing infrastructure developments, conflicting statements from state and union authorities cast doubt on the completion date of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), with the state targeting December 31, 2024, while the union civil aviation ministry extends the deadline to March 31, 2025.
In July last, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the state assembly that the NMIA would be operational by December 31, 2024. However, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, after reviewing the project on January 13, 2024, said that the project will not be operational before March 31, 2025.
55-60% physical and financial progress achieved: Scindia
The Greenfield airport to be constructed for Rs18,000 crore, will be implemented in five phases, Scindia said after visiting the NMIA project site.
“We have achieved the physical and financial progress of 55-60% for the project. The project began in 2018 and commercial operationalization is expected to start by March 31, 2025. While the first and the second phase of the mega airport will have one runway, one terminal building and a passenger capacity of two crore, the second runway, four terminals along with an increased passenger capacity of nine crore will be part of phases 3, 4 and 5,” he said.
Even the officials from Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), the company constructing the project, had maintained that the work would be completed by December 31, 2024.
“Since the day we took over the construction of NMIA, we have been engaged in the work on a war footing to achieve commercial operation by December 2024. As of date, we have managed to complete more than 70% of the runway construction while the work to develop terminal building and other utility structures is going on in full swing,” a spokesperson from NMIAL had told Free Press Journal.
In this ‘double speak’ over the date and time of completion of the project, it’s the people who are confused and believe that the project has remained stuck for over 12 years and that they are not sure whether it will get operational in the near future.
“The authorities concerned should make it clear that the project will not see the light of the day at least for the next 3-4 years. They should stop fooling people and play with their emotions. We have been hearing about the dates being postponed for the past 12-13 years now. The speed at which the work is going on, we can’t see the first flight taking-off from NMIA before 2026 or mid-2027 when the airport is likely to get operational,” residents told FPJ.
NMIA’s construction is facing delays: CAPA
Meanwhile, CAPA, the aviation consultancy firm, had said in its report that NMIA’s construction is facing delays and is likely to commence commercial operations in 2025 instead of 2024. In reply to this, AAHL maintained that the project is being executed as per the scheduled implementation plan and will be operational by December 31, 2024.
The start of operations of the NMIA is eagerly awaited by one and all. The second airport in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) is expected to significantly decongest Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), also managed by AAHL.
