New International Terminal Building at Ahmedabad soon

If all goes as planned, the construction of a new International Terminal Building (ITB) along with a city-side approach road, car park and an apron at the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport will begin by the end of this month, said Airport Director S D Awasthi. The proposal for the building along with city and air-side development was approved by the Government of India and Cabinet on Economic Affairs chaired by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on December 21. The two-phase project, to be funded by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Central Government, is expected to be completed in 18 months from the date of sanction, said Awasthi. ‘‘The estimated cost of Phase I has been pegged at Rs 196 crores and Phase II at Rs 95 crore. The total cost will be Rs 291 crore plus an additional Rs 27.35 crore in foreign exchange (in Internationalised Normalised Ratio for 2005-2006) for Phase I.

After taking inflation into account, the total cost of the project will be around Rs 313.22 crore,’’ said Awasthi. ‘‘At present, based on international resources generated during the previous year, the cash reserves available with the AAI are Rs 1,400 crore (approx). AAI expects to generate Rs 1,127 crore in international resources for 2006-2007. This will be sufficient to meet the project requirements,’’ he added. ‘‘The new terminal building has been planned to handle 1,000 passengers (500 arrival and 500 departure). It will have 13 parking spaces, which will be brought up to 70. In Phase II, the capacity will be enhanced to 1,600 passengers. On completion of the project, the peak hour passenger traffic will be enhanced to 800 arrivals and 800 departures,’’ said Awasthi. ‘‘The ITB will be a modern structure and will provide facilities like duty free shops, escalators, lifts, childcare centers, tourism counter etc at concessional rates.

Once ready, international operations will be shifted to the new building. The existing building may be used to cater to international cargo operations. We are keeping our options open,’’ he said. ‘‘Phase II will be a linear expansion. Phase-II execution will be taken during 2011 and will be completed in 2012 as the capacity of Phase I Terminal Building will be saturated in 2012-13,’’ Awasthi added. The Airport Authority of India had appointed Global Technical Advisors and Indian Financial Advisors to make suggestions for the overall development of the airport. The project has been planned according to International Airport Transport Association norms.

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