Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Government on Tuesday signed the concession agreement with Bengaluru-based GMR Airports Ltd for developing the Greenfield International Airport at Mopa, work on which is expected to begin in early 2017 and the first flight due to take off by 2019-2020. The airport to be built on public private partnership (PPP) is the first to be privatized in the country after over a decade.
The concession agreement, which will give the company the right to operate the business for 40 years, extendable by another 20 years, was signed Tuesday afternoon between Chief Secretary RK Srivastava representing the State government and GMR CEO RV Sheshan in the presence of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza.
The foundation stone for the project will be laid on November 13 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the signing event, Parsekar said the airport is one of the few government projects being closely monitored by the Prime Minister. “Last 20-25 years there has been just talk about this project. But today, signing the concession agreement on the day when my government completes two years is like a ‘feather in the cap’ of my government’s achievements,” he said.
Announcing that the project will boost the economy, the Chief Minister said the concessioner will share revenue of 36.9 percent with the State government annually. “This is the highest revenue shared in any PPP project in the country,” Parsekar said adding that the project which will be completed in four phases and will provide job opportunities to nearly 50,000 people in a phased manner.
“Priority will be given to families who made their land available to the government for the project,” he assured in the presence of Pernem MLA and Minister Rajendra Arlekar.
The first phase of the project, which is expected to be completed by 2019-20 is planned to handle passenger traffic of up to 4.4 million annually, to be incrementally increased to 13 million annually by phase 4. The total capacity of the airport is about 28 million passengers annually. “The actual ground work is expected to begin in early 2017 with the first flight to take off by 2019-20,” Chief Minister said.
GMR has formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) – GMR Goa international airport limited (GMRGIAL) – to develop the airport. The SPV will raise funds, design, construct and run the project. The airport will be built up on 84,68,261 sq mtrs (2093 acres), of which 252 acres will be utilized for commercial development.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman-Airport GMR Group Srinivas Bommidala said winning the Mopa airport work is a significant milestone for the firm. “Many of us may not realise this but Mopa airport is the first airport to be privatized in India after over a decade with the last bid process having been completed in May 2006,” he said.
Appreciating Goa government’s bid process, Bommidala said the group will encourage the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation and other states to follow the Goa model. “A round the clock operational airport at Goa will not only boost tourism but also help Goa recapture its export cargo market that it has lost to Mumbai,” he said.
“A civilian airport owned by the government will also boost State revenues from customs duty, fuel related cess which can be used for social development projects,” he added.
