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Our Bureau

Mr Praful Patel

Pune , June 26

THE Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, said that 30 airports in the country have been identified for revamp. Three greenfield projects will begin in Pune, Goa and Navi Mumbai, and Nagpur will be made a dedicated hub for cargo.

Talking to newspersons here on Saturday, he said the revamp of the 30 airports would entail an investment of Rs 6,000 crore. The Government is in the process of floating bonds for raising the amount and the initial formalities have been completed. He said the consultants for the project would be appointed soon and by the end of the fiscal, the bonds would be out.

The tender for the design of these airports had been floated some time ago. All the airports would have an international design and they are expected to be completed by 2009.

Mr Patel said the first international flight would be taking off from the Pune airport by December 12 this year. For this, a short-term arrangement will be made, as a full-fledged revamp of the airport is not possible within six months.

He said work on the terminal building would also begin soon. The new airport at Pune will sport four new aero-bridges and also have additional capacity. "The intention is to ensure that most of the international and domestic flights are in a position to land at the airport," he said. He said an investment of Rs 75 crore would be required for the total up-gradation of the Pune terminal.

Asked whether the issue of watch hours had been sorted out with the Air Force, Mr Patel said most of the issues had been sorted out and whatever "concessions the Air Force was giving us here at Pune, we would give them double concessions at the other air fields they would ask us for."

He said that the watch hours would be extended up to 10 p.m. He said more scheduled flights should be allowed during the watch hours, which would help increase air connectivity for cargo and passengers not only across the country, but also from abroad.The present airport at Pune, which is under the Defence control, has several restrictions on watch hours for security reasons. It was pointed out that continuous watch hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. is a dire need.

Mr Patel said that Nagpur would be made a dedicated hub for cargo and the domestic carrier Indian Airlines would be having its full-fledged operations from there by early 2007. He said a major volume of import and export cargo from the Pune region is now being handled out of the Sahar Airport in Mumbai.

Mr Patel said that from among 77 companies that had been surveyed, about 54,000 tonnes of materials had originated from the Pune region alone, and had been air-freighted through Mumbai annually.

On the Chakan international airport, which is still under consideration, Mr Patel said certain issues have to be tackled before anything could happen. This includes the air traffic management issue, which has to be jointly addressed by civilians and the Air Force.

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