PANJIM: The proposed greenfield international airport at Mopa in north Goa will be operational by 2018-19, the state government has assured information technology (IT) investors in a bid to draw investments in the sector.
The Information Technology Investment Policy 2015, which is scheduled to be unveiled on Saturday, has proposed excellent connectivity through road, rail, water and air transport to investors for investment in IT, information technology enabled services (ITES) and electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM).
“Goa presently has one operational airport at Dabolim. A second airport, an international airport is proposed at Mopa in north Goa and is scheduled to be operational by 2018-19,” the policy states. This date is almost two years earlier than the one in the Request For Qualification (RFQ) document for the airport that states that the first phase of the Mopa airport is likely to be ready by 2020.
The proposed airport is facing strong opposition from farmers in Pernem taluka and from south Goa that is championing the cause of retaining Dabolim as the only airport for Goa.
The government has shortlisted five bidders for the RFQ for the development of the airport in terms of design, build, finance, operation and transfer (DBFOT) basis. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is on record to state that the preparatory work at the proposed site would commence by December-end.
The process for drafting request for proposal (RFP) has been initiated, after which the financial bids will be opened. The government is currently awaiting the environment clearance for the project from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
As per the RFQ document, the airport – which is being constructed on a public-private-partnership — will be developed in four phases. Phase-I is expected to be completed by 2020 and will cater to 4.4 million passengers while phase II is likely to be ready by 2025 and this will handle 5.8 million passengers.
The government has already acquired 81,29,455 square metres for the airport project.
