Aid Hyderabad airport project in take-off: Reddy to Patel

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy met Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today and urged him to expedite the process to set up Gr...

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.R. Reddy met Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today and urged him to expedite the process to set up Greenfield airport in Hyderabad. Reddy stressed that the city could not lag behind Bangalore, where construction of an international airport is set to begin in a few weeks.

More than 4,000 acres of land is being acquired at Shamsabad, near Hyderabad, for the Rs 1,350-crore project. Sources said it would take the Airports Authority of India at least a few more weeks to finish evaluating the project report submitted last month.

The Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has been set up on a financial model similar to that of Bangalore airport. The majority 74 pc stake will be held by a joint venture comprising GMR group (63 pc) and Malaysian Airport Holding Berhard (11 pc). Twenty six per cent will be equally split between the AP government and the AAI. But unlike BIAL stakeholders, the GMR group apparently does not have much experience in constructing airports.

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Meanwhile, construction will soon begin at Devenahalli, the site for the Bangalore airport. BIAL is finalising the details of the agreements with financers, partners, the Government and the AAI.

Siemens, L&T and Zurich Airport together hold 74 pc stake in BIAL, with Karnataka and AAI accounting for the remaining 26 pc.

Meanwhile, the AAEU launched a four-day hunger strike on Tuesday, protesting the restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai airports by private parties. The strike will culminate on Friday with a nationwide agitation.