A few days after warning project affected persons (PAPs) of the proposed Navi Mumbai airport
that the state may have to "scrap" the plan if there would be further
delays in land acquisition, leading to its cost rising to unfeasible
levels, the state on Monday took a U-turn.
The state and Cidco,
the agency responsible for the airport development, said that they
would go ahead with the project even if its cost had gone up because of
delays and dollar appreciation. The "warning" was the government's land
acquisition negotiation tactic with the PAPs, said a source.
But a crucial meeting that was to take place between state leaders, led by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, and the Prime Minister in New Delhi to discuss Navi Mumbai projects was postponed on Monday. It is reported that the meeting was delayed due to infighting the Congress-NCP coalition. While Chavan heads the urban development ministry, the NCP controls Cidco.
The delay in starting construction and dollar appreciation has increased the project's cost by 30-40% over the 2008 pricing. In 2007, the project cost was nearly Rs 6,000 crore, but now it is pegged at Rs 14,000 crore, said a source. Officials attributed the escalation to the change in scope from airport development to state-of-the-art international standards, besides several environmental measures.
Even now, nearly 25% land is yet to be acquired from Panvel villagers.
"Dollar appreciation has surely affected the project cost, but now there is no looking back. We are committed to go ahead with the project," said Cidco joint managing director V Radha. A meeting with the PM would soon take place to catapult various infrastructure projects in Navi Mumbai, she said Source : The Times Of India
The state and Cidco,
the agency responsible for the airport development, said that they
would go ahead with the project even if its cost had gone up because of
delays and dollar appreciation. The "warning" was the government's land
acquisition negotiation tactic with the PAPs, said a source.But a crucial meeting that was to take place between state leaders, led by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, and the Prime Minister in New Delhi to discuss Navi Mumbai projects was postponed on Monday. It is reported that the meeting was delayed due to infighting the Congress-NCP coalition. While Chavan heads the urban development ministry, the NCP controls Cidco.
The delay in starting construction and dollar appreciation has increased the project's cost by 30-40% over the 2008 pricing. In 2007, the project cost was nearly Rs 6,000 crore, but now it is pegged at Rs 14,000 crore, said a source. Officials attributed the escalation to the change in scope from airport development to state-of-the-art international standards, besides several environmental measures.
Even now, nearly 25% land is yet to be acquired from Panvel villagers.
"Dollar appreciation has surely affected the project cost, but now there is no looking back. We are committed to go ahead with the project," said Cidco joint managing director V Radha. A meeting with the PM would soon take place to catapult various infrastructure projects in Navi Mumbai, she said Source : The Times Of India
