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S. Shanker

Mumbai, Aug. 4 IRB Infrastructure Developers has bagged an order from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation to build a greenfield airport at Sindhudurg on design-build-finance-operate basis.

The proposal for an airport here on public-private partnership was approved by the Centre in 2008 and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) was entrusted with the responsibility of finding the right partner. The State had also made it known to the Centre that the project did not involve any land acquisition as it owned the non-agricultural land of 650 acres earmarked for the project.

MIDC, which is in possession of the land, would hand it over to IRB.

Mr V.D. Mhaiskar, Chairman, IRB Infrastructure, told Business Line that the cost of the single-runway airport would be Rs 150 crore. The company had to remit a premium of Rs 20 crore to the Government for the project. The construction period is 18 months and the concession period is 95 years.

Of the 650 acres, 350 acres would go for airport development and the balance would be available to the developer for commercial use.

Mr Mhaiskar said no plans have been firmed up regarding the commercial aspects of the airport, but given the location and proximity to Goa, the leaning would be towards those of a tourist destination.

Sindhudurg, which borders Goa, is about 80 km from Dabolim airport.

The Maharashtra Government is keen on promoting the picturesque Konkan coast and has declared the region a “tourist district”. Tourism promotion activities there qualify for special incentives and benefits.

IRB Infrastructure is one of the largest road toll operating companies in the country with a daily collection of over Rs 2.25 crore on the 239 km Surat-Dahisar project and the Pune-Mumbai expressway. In June, the company bagged four build-operate-transfer orders totalling Rs 4,300 crore from the National Highways Authority of India.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Maharashtra

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