Navi Mumbai Airport Project To Continue As Planned
The Navi Mumbai International Airport has gone through several twists and turns in the last 5 years. When the project started, it faced two major hurdles in the form of environment clearance and land acquisition. Just when CIDCO and the state government thought that they came up with a suitable compensation for the project affected farmers, there were new problems. There was also a plan to scrap the project due to delays in land acquisition and rising project costs. However, CIDCO has now announced that the project will continue as planned. The state government has informed the Centre that the remaining land acquisition will be done within three months and the project will commence immediately.
Concerns over land acquisition and rising costs
The major roadblock the Navi Mumbai airport is facing is in terms of land acquisition. The project affected farmers from seven villages refused to allow land surveying and land acquisition by CIDCO without being paid a satisfactory compensation. CIDCO and the state government agreed to provide a compensation of 22.5% developed land, the highest compensation ever for land acquisition in India. When finally the deadlock was believed to be broken, the farmers came up with a new demand of 35% developed land to be given on a net basis as compensation. They said that anything lesser would be a loss to them. The development body still needs to acquire 25% land from Panvel villagers.
The land acquisition process has been long drawn due to which the commencement of the project has been delayed. The delays in land acquisition has increased the project cost. The rupee fall has further escalated the project cost. Airport projects at Chakan in Pune and Juhu in Mumbai were being considered as alternatives due to delays in the Navi Mumbai airport.
Cost estimation
The initial estimated cost when the project was planned in 2007 was Rs. 6,000 crore. However, delays and dollar appreciation have increased the project costs by more than twice than the initial projection. It is currently projected to be Rs. 14,000 crores. The increased cost is also attributed to certain changes in the project scope. The project scope now involves several environmental measures and international standards.
