Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), the second airport in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), will only be completed by March 31, 2025.
The state and the Union government have so far insisted that the project will be completed by December 31, 2024.
The minister said the greenfield project, being built at a cost of Rs18,000 crore, will be implemented in five phases., “We have achieved the physical and financial progress of 55-60% for the project. The project began in 2018 and commercial operationalisation 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 the part of Phase 3, 4 and 5,” Scindia said after visiting the project site and heading a review meeting on Saturday.
Besides ministry officials, officers from the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Adani Airport Holding Limited (AAHL), the company entrusted with the job of constructing the airport, and the Government of Maharashtra attended the review meeting.
“This is not only the project of Mumbai or Maharashtra, but the entire nation. I am happy that the physical and financial progress is on time. It is going to help connecting both the maximum city and the satellite city,” the minister said.
Scindia said NMIA will have road, rail and metro connectivity with plans of water connectivity as well.
Airport's connectivity
The airport will be connected to the road in three directions – NH 4B (348), the Sion Panvel Highway and through Atal Setu, while it will be connected through rail by Targhar Railway Station. Metro connectivity to the airport will be via metro line 2D (DN Nagar to Mandale – Mankhurd) and metro line 8 (Mumbai Airport to Navi Mumbai Airport) of Mumbai Metro besides Pendhar-Belapur-Taloja metro line of the Navi Mumbai Metro. It is also planned to connect the airport through hovercraft from Colaba and through cargo from Raigad in Phase 2.
Automated People Mover
“NMIA will be the first airport in the country with automated passenger movement within its 1,600 Ha of area for 10km on city side and airside. The greenfield airport is expected to cater to the increased air traffic in the country. The Union government aims to double domestic passenger traffic in the country from the present 15 crore to 30 crore by 2030. There is also a resolve to create more than 200 airports in the country in the next six years,” the minister added.
