27 June, 2019
One of the dream projects that the Prime Minister of our country had conceptualized, while serving as the chief minister of the Gujarat was that of Dholera International Airport. In pursue of that, the Gujarat government has formed Dholera International Airport Co. Ltd and is trying to obtain approvals from the central government for the same. If all goes well, then the Gujarat may get its second international airport in its very own smart city – Dholera. The first being at Ahmadabad, which is about a 100 kilometers from Dholera.
The reason for the planning of Dholera Airport in Gujarat, despite the fact that there already exists an international airport was, the remarkable rise in international air traffic that India has witnessed in the recent years. Air passenger traffic grew 9.7% last year as compared with 4.43% in 2013, which actually reversed the decline that had happened in 2012 which resulted in grounding of the famous Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
As per the DGCA, India's scheduled airlines carried 67.73 million passengers in 2014 compared with 61.42 million passengers in 2013, 58.81 million in 2012 and 60.66 million in 2011. After the introduction of the low-fare Airline such as Air Deccan, which is also known as “Common Man’s Airlinesâ€, the nation had witnessed a remarkable rise in air traffic at 20-40% spread over the six years starting 2003. Hence, the proposed airport aims at serving the spillover traffic from the existing Ahmedabad airport and also to cater the upcoming traffic that will be due to the development of the Dholera smart city.
As per Mr. Amit Chavda, general manager, DIAC Ltd, the Dholera International Airport has plans to develop an airport through a private-public partnership. The company is also keen to develop the airport on its own with two parallel runways that are capable of handling the largest civilian aircraft The Airbus A380s. As per him the Ahmedabad airport will be saturated in the next five years as it cannot handle further increase in passenger demand despite incremental improvements in the terminal.  The Dholera airports is strategically positioned to handle even the international air traffic, for instance, a one-stop in Dholera airport to connect Singapore from London Heathrow can save at least 322km compared to a London Heathrow-Singapore flight that is having one-stop in Dubai.
The airport company has selected 1,426 hectares of land near village Navagam in Dholera block  and the ministry of aviation has approved the site. The DIACL has also applied for in-principle approval from the ministry of civil aviation for the airport project supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has also approached Union ministry for environment and forests (MoEF) for final environmental clearance.  Also there had been no major objections raised by the local villagers.
The state government has formed Dholera International Airport Company Ltd (DIACL) as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for development of the airport. “The airport will be developed alongside the activation area of the SIR spread in 22-km radius. The development of the SIR and the airport complement each other,” said Amit Chavda, managing director, (DIACL).
Thus, the conceptualization of another international airport at Gujarat will definitively open doors for more investors.
(Special Investment Region) is Biggest Future Smart City Under the DMIC Project an aim to make it a global manufacturing hub supported by world class infrastructure.The city would be built as a world-class city, with a 10 lane expressway running between the city from the state capital Ahmedabad to the container port. It would be the world largest urban development project worth $12 billion. Current Status Of Dholera SIR.
Dholera SIR: Ideally located, widely connected…
Also read: Highlights Of Dholera Sir (Special Investment Region)
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