‘Green nod to Navi Mumbai airport by Oct’

The proposed international airport in Navi Mumbai is likely to get the final environmental clearance by October and the bidding process is expected to begin by the year-end, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here on Monday.

The proposed international airport in Navi Mumbai is likely to get the final environmental clearance by October and the bidding process is expected to begin by the year-end, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here on Monday.

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“We expect that environmental clearance will be granted to the project by October-end. If the clearance comes ... the bidding process can be started by the end of this year and it can be sealed within the next six months,” Patel said.

He said the bidding process and all the legal and financial aspects of the project would be in the public-private partnership model followed for airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Patel also said that no other site was “feasible” for the project.

With runway repairs starting at the Mumbai airport later this week, he said virtually no additional capacity would be allowed to operate at the airport.

He said, “The ministry would soon issue a notification to prohibit operations of general aviation turboprop aircraft from the Mumbai airport, barring those for medical emergencies.”

Post clearance, it would take about five years for the entire project to be completed, he said.