Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Govt fixes market value for land acquired to expand airport runway

COMPENSATION FINALISED

Govt fixes market value for land acquired to expand airport runway
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The state government Nadu has arrived at a market price to hand out compensation for the 126.59 acres of land acquired at Kolapakkam and Manapakkam villages for expansion of the Chennai airport. The land is to be used for the extension of the secondary runway.

The price has been fixed according to four categories of land:

Rs 1,06,000 (per cent) for barren agricultural lands that are level lands, Rs 60,000 (per cent) or Rs 60,00,000 (per acre) for lands where the earth has been excavated for brick-making (low level areas) and

Rs 750 per sq ft or Rs 18 lakh per ground for unapproved layout areas with access to a public road.

Land in the unapproved layout set aside for road and common purposes will not be eligible for compensation, said a press release from the district administration.
District administration officials interacted with the land owners and considered sales data and guideline data in the villages to arrive at the value for land. Those willing to receive the amount can apply to the Special Tashildar (Land Acquisition) Unit, Chennai Airport Scheme, Pattunool Chatram village, Sriperumbudur Taluk, Kancheepuram district in writing.

The should enclose copies of documents like purchase deed, link documents, layout copy, patta, death certificate and legalheirship certificate (in case of death of owner of the land/plot), encumbrance certificate from date of purchase till date and details of court case litigations, if any. The applications received will be scrutinised and the land owners called for a verification of the original documents.

The compensation will be paid after this process is completed.

Applications should reach the office by August 31, 2008, by registered post or in person on any working day during office hours.

The application forms can be obtained from the office of the Special Tashildar (LA) concerned or can be downloaded from the district website: www.kanchi.tn.nic.in/airport
timeschennai@timesgroup.com
www.timesofindia.com

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

PIB approves Chennai airport expansion plan

NEW DELHI: The Public Investment Board (PIB) on Tuesday cleared the expansion and modernisation plans for the Chennai airport. Work on upgradation of the airport is expected to start in September 2008.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will invest Rs 1,808 crore to complete the project by October 2010. AAI will invest 80% of the required capital through internal resources, with remaining 20% coming from commercial borrowings. According to a statement issued here by the civil aviation ministry, the project funding does not include any user development fee (UDF) from passengers or budgetary support from the government.

The government in 2007 decided that the Chennai airport would not be privatised and AAI would develop it. The expansion work of the airport includes enhancement of runway capacity, apron capacity and terminal building capacity.

“The state government has handed over about 130 acres to the AAI for the development of the secondary runway. Land has also been made available by the defence authorities,” the statement said.

The existing domestic and international terminals have an annual capacity of handling 6 million and 3 million passengers, respectively. According to AAI’s master plan, the new domestic terminal would have an additional capacity of 10 million. An additional capacity of 4 million is being added to the international terminal.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/PIB_approves_Chennai_airport_expansion_plan/articleshow/3303273.cms

Chennai Airport Development plans get PIB clearance

Ministry of Civil Aviation

Chennai Airport Development plans get PIB clearance
17:17 IST

The development plans of Chennai Airport got the clearance of the Public Investment Board (PIB) today. It will now have to be approved by the Government (CCEA approval). The work is expected to begin by September 2008.

It may be recalled that in April, 2007, the Government decided that the Chennai Airport would be developed to international standards by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The AAI has developed a master plan and design of terminals through Global Architectural Design Competition. An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) has approved the development plans. The plans focus on the enhancement of runway capacity, apron capacity and terminal building capacity.

The State Government has handed over about 130 acres of land to the AAI for the development of the secondary runway. Land has also been made available by the Defence Authorities. A meeting chaired by the Defence Minister was held on 24 July, 2008, where it was decided to hand over 21 acres of Defence land to the AAI for the expansion of the airport. The Expert Committee on Infrastructural development is expected to give the environmental clearance of the project very soon.

The existing International Terminal at the Chennai Airport has a capacity of 3 million passengers and existing Domestic Terminal has a capacity of 6 million passengers. Additional capacity of 4 million is being added to the International Terminal to enhance its capacity to 7 million passengers.

A new Domestic Terminal is being built with capacity of 10 million in addition to the existing Domestic Terminal, to augment the capacity of the Domestic Terminal to 16 million. The construction and development work is expected to be completed by October 2010. The total cost of the project is envisaged to be Rs.1808.10 crores of which approximately Rs.1077.16 crores will be required for the new Domestic Terminal building and for the modernization/extension of the International Terminal and the Face Lifting of the existing International and Domestic Terminals. 80% of the project will be funded through internal resources of the AAI and 20% through commercial borrowings. No User Development Fee (UDF) or budgetary support is envisaged for this project.


The upgraded International Terminal building, which will be able cater to 7 million passengers a year, will have a peak hour capacity of about 4450 passengers, 109 check in counters, 35 immigration counters for departure and 39 for arrival, 8 customs counters for departure and 26 for arrival, 8 conveyor belts and 8 aerobridges.

This Terminal is expected to be saturated in 2017-18. The Domestic Passenger Terminals which will be able to cater to 16 million passengers annually will have a peak hour capacity of about 5360 passengers, 99 check in counters, 10 conveyor belts, 9 aerobridges and is expected to be saturated by 2012-13.

The Pre-Engineering and Pre-Qualification of the project have been completed. As per present estimates, work is expected to commence in September, 2008. Construction of Runway, Taxiway, Parking Bays is expected to be completed in 20 months and the Terminal Buildings in 26 months. Thus, the Runway, Taxiway, Parking Bays scheduled to be completed by April, 2010 and the Terminal Buildings by October, 2010.

PHP Peak Hour Passenger
MPPA Million Passengers Per Annum
MC/MK

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=40798

Monday, July 28, 2008

State govt transfers land for secondary runway extension

State govt transfers land for secondary runway extension

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: The state government handed over 130 acres of land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to extend the secondary runway, on Monday.

The AAI will soon start fencing the land prior to starting preparatory work.
The land comprising ‘poromboke’ land and some vacant land acquired from panchayats was surveyed and marked in the presence of officials from the AAI and the revenue department.

An AAI senior officer said that they had drawn up a schedule for carrying out the work. “This will be followed strictly once all formalities are over. The boundaries of the land have been marked and it will soon be fenced.

Later, it will be levelled and graded to make it ready for construction work. Once, this is done the AAI will follow the construction schedule,” he added.

Meanwhile, residents of Kolapakkam panchayat from where a good portion of the land had been acquired, criticised the state government for handing over the land without clearing compensation.

“We are yet to get details of compensation from the state government,” said Mannivannan, a resident.

Residents who opposed the airport expansion project questioned how the AAI could start acquiring the land without getting environment clearance for the extension of the secondary runway.

“We have not fixed any timeframe to start construction works. The environment clearance is yet to come,” airport director Dinesh Kumar said.

www.timesofindia.com

Chennai airport uplift gets wings

Barely a month after the Supreme Court upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to acquire land for the much-awaited expansion and modernisation of the Chennai airport, the Rs 2,700-crore project is likely to be taken up by the public investment board (PIB) for consideration on Tuesday.

Government sources said the airport project has been delayed due to pressure from the Left parties who were allies to the government apart from the niggling land acquisition problems.

The project will in all probability be implemented by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) despite the ministry’s earlier stance of a private bidder carrying out the project. “The process of issuing a tender and carrying out a bidding process will take too long which is not good for a project that has already been delayed by more than six months,” an official from the ministry of civil aviation said.

According to AAI’s plans, the acquired land will be used to construct a second runway, parallel to the existing 12,000-feet main runway, and extend the existing 6,500-foot cross runway. This would enhance the airports handling capacity to 50 flights an hour and allow it to meet the demands of air traffic until at least 2016. The Chennai airport can currently handle 28 aircraft movements an hour.

The project proposal, once cleared by the PIB, will be circulated among the various departments and ministries of the government before coming up for the Cabinet clearance. “The proposal should be in front of the Cabinet within the next one month while the Kolkata airport is expected to be cleared by next week,” a civil aviation ministry source said.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Chennai-airport-uplift-gets-wings/341699/

Monday, July 21, 2008

Runway extension yet to get ministry nod

Runway extension yet to get ministry nod


CHENNAI: The state government is all set to hand over land for extension of the secondary runway at Chennai airport, but Airports Authority of India (AAI) is still awaiting the mandatory environment clearance from the union government.

The government has decided to hand over 130 acres by this month-end for extending the existing secondary runway by 1,400 metres. The AAI is also planning to kickstart preparatory work for the construction by the first week of next month.

However, there is still no sign of clearance from the union ministry of environment though the state revenue department and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) held a public hearing last month and sent a report of the proceedings to the ministry.

"We are yet to receive environment clearance for the project which will help enhance aircraft handling capacity of the airport," airport director Dinesh Kumar said.

Meanwhile, the state government is ready to transfer the land to AAI as per schedule. "We will be handing over 130 acres acquired for the extension of the secondary runway by the end of this month," transport secretary Debendranath Sarangi said.

With only 10 more days to go for land transfer, the Airports Authority of India would need clearance from the union government before it could float tenders for preparatory works. Residents had been opposing the extension of the existing runway, saying it would curb the flow of Adyar river that runs through the airport land.

"The extension of the secondary runway will complicate the situation and will cause more floods in localities close to the airport. Excess water from Chemparampakkam river is let out into Adyar during the rains, causing floods on airport land every year," said Brinda Brighton, a resident of Manapakkam.

Construction work worth Rs 100 crore or more should not be carried out near a water body, residents of Manapakkam had pointed out during the public hearing on June 12, while opposing the project.

Sarangi said that priority was being given to the secondary runway, "but the proposed parallel runway (see graphic) will be taken up only in the next phase, as it is included as part of the larger expansion plan of the airport. The state government will sort out problems in acquiring land for the new runway."

The Supreme Court had dismissed petitions filed by the residents and also a builder challenging the Madras High Court verdict, thus clearing land acquisition for construction of a parallel runway.

TNPCB officials said that there would not be any hassle in obtaining environmental clearance for the secondary runway project because the runway was a non-industrial construction.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Runway_extension_yet_to_get_ministry_nod/articleshow/3261667.cms

Friday, July 18, 2008

Land for Chennai airport expansion to be handed over soon

Land for Chennai airport expansion to be handed over soon

The first phase involves extending the secondary runway and building a second terminal. The project is being implemented by the AAI.

Chennai, July 10 The Tamil Nadu Government will hand over 130 acres of land near Chennai airport, to be used for the airport’s expansion, by the end of this month, the State’s Chief Secretary, Mr L.K. Tripathy, told Business Line.

He said the Government is also acquiring land for the second runway (which will be taken up in the second phase of the project.)

Mr Dinesh Kumar, Airport Director, Chennai airport, said that the Rs 1,800-crore project would be completed in 28 months. “We are ready with the tenders,” he said.

The first phase involves extending the secondary runway and building a second terminal. The project is being implemented by the Airports Authority of India.It is expected that upon completion, the airport would be able to handle 50 per cent more number of flights.
Today, it handles 350 flights a day, Mr Kumar said.

A second runway — parallel to the existing one — will come up in the second phase of the project. Phase-II will need 1,069 acres of land.

Mr Tripathy said there would be no issues in acquiring the required lands. The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by a developer of residential colonies challenging the acquisition of lands for expansion of the airport. In doing this, the apex court upheld a decision of the Madras High Court.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/07/11/stories/2008071152210700.htm

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

130 acres for secondary runway expansion

130 acres for secondary runway expansion

CHENNAI: The State government has issued an order allotting 130.60 acres to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the expansion of the secondary runway at the Chennai airport.

AAI officials said the secondary runway expansion was part of the overall expansion programme that includes construction of new terminals, taxiways, aerobridges and a parallel runway. These projects would be taken up at a total cost of Rs. 1,808 crore. The Centre had sanctioned the sum.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/02/stories/2008070252860500.htm