NCR does not need a second airport at this stage: Centre
BY PTI11 Aug 2015 11:33 PM GMT
PTI11 Aug 2015 11:33 PM GMT
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here is operated by Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL), a joint venture between GMR Group and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said DIAL has done the modernisation and upgradation in accordance with the Master Plan. It has the capacity to handle 62 million passengers and 1.5 million tonne cargo per annum. “As the present passenger and cargo traffic is well below the installed capacity, there is no requirement of airport expansion at present,” he said.
Sharma was responding to a query on whether the expansion of Delhi airport is likely to be delayed due to losses and under utilisation of the existing capacity. In 2014-15, passenger traffic at the airport touched 40.9 million. During the same period, cargo traffic was just 0.7 million. The government has approved setting up a second airport in the NCR. “It was decided by the government on June 26 that another airport has to be set up in the national capital region in the future as Delhi airport would be choked by that time. “On July 6, a meeting in this regard was held with the Civil Aviation Minister (Ashok Gajapathi Raju) and on July 10, an <g data-gr-id="44">in principle</g> decision in this regard was taken for setting up another airport in NCR,” Sharma had said on July 23.
To a separate query, Sharma on Monday said after implementation of the <g data-gr-id="31">public private</g> partnership project at Delhi airport, the losses were incurred by the operator on account of huge investment made for infrastructure expansion and modernisation. “Further, the cost of depreciation has also gone up in the light of new Companies Act, 2013,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, to simplify procedural requirements for carriers, the Civil Aviation Ministry plans to do away with the prior approval norm for importing aircraft. The ministry has written to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and the Reserve Bank requesting them to amend their rules.
At present, No-Objection Certificate (NOC) is required from the ministry before any scheduled or regional carrier wants to import an aircraft. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said that “towards simplification of procedures”, the ministry has requested DGFT and RBI to amend their respective rules for removing the prior approval requirement for aircraft import. Leading aircraft makers — Airbus and Boeing — have projected increase in demand from India for new aircraft in the coming decades.
Railways okays private freight terminals
Railways on Monday ruled out allowing private firms to use its network for goods transportation but said it allows private freight terminals. Rail operation on Indian railway network by private firms is not permissible, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said here in a written reply in Lok Sabha. However, private firms can transport commodities using Indian Railway network in containers and can also develop freight terminals, Sinha added. The permission to run container trains by private players is in vogue since 2006.
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