(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The federal government has cleared the highway connectivity for Kannur international airport, expected to be operational within a year.
This was announced by Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari after talks a Kerala delegation led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in New Delhi.
"We'll build a four-lane cement concrete road of global standards connecting the airport to National Highway 17," he told reporters. "We are always there to support such big infrastructure projects in Kerala".
He also cleared a similar road connectivity project for the Vizhinjam international trans-shipment port here, another prestigious big ticket project of the southern state.
The meeting, also attended by Kerala works minister VK Ebrahim Kunju and chief secretary Jiji Thomson, decided to develop the state's two major national highways into a four-lane corridor linking its north and south tips.
The project was long stalled due to the local opposition demanding more money and compensation for the land people are ready to part with. They will get four-times of the market value in the urban areas and double the value in rural areas.
A five-member team headed by the chief secretary, with two representatives each from the state and the National Highway Authority of India with the mandate to take independent decisions, will be formed to expedite project.
"The panel of senior officials will meet every month and routinely review the progress of work," said Chandy. "We have found a solution for the stalled project".
He said his government had completed all procedures, including the preparation of a detailed project report, for the light metros in Kozhikode and the state capital here and presented it to the federal government. "It is now up to the Prime Minister's office to take a decision," he said.
The state wants to build the two metros on the lines of Kochi Metro, which is also expected to run in a year, with the two governments funding 20% each mobilising the rest through term loans.
Meanwhile, work on the greenfield airport in Kannur is progressing in a fast pace and the authorities hope the first flight lands here on trial before the year-end despite heavy rains.
Its managing director G Chandramouli said 57% of the runway work was complete so far. About 18.5mn cubic metres of the earth has been levelled for the airport.
Initially, the airport will have the capacity to handle 1.5mn passengers, which can go up to 4.5mn by 2025, and 10,000 tonnes of cargo.
The government has so far acquired 1,277.93 acres for the project and notified 785.45 more acres for acquisition for runway expansion and other works in the second phase.
The Airports Authority India has signed an agreement to invest Rs1bn in equity participation.
In the next 10 years, the airport is projected to handle 4.67mn passengers and 39,638 flights, and 60,758 tons of cargo a year.
In the first phase, it will have a 3050m long runway and would be able to handle peak hour traffic of 18 aircraft.
An 80,000sq m passenger terminal is under construction, besides an apron of 14 parking stands, 22,000sq m vehicle park, 1,200sq m air traffic control building, 8,000sq m aircraft ground service equipment building and parking and a fuel farm of 25,000sq m are also under construction.
The airport has also taken up an afforestation plan including the development of a greenbelt around the airport planting around 251,000 saplings. Another 180,000 saplings will be planted this year.
The total debt component of the Kannur International Airport Limited is Rs8.92bn, which has been tied up with a consortium of Canara Bank (Rs6.92bn), South Indian Bank (Rs1.1bn) and Federal bank (Rs900mn).
With 5% equity, NRI businessman Yusuffali MA is the single largest individual shareholder in the company.
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