BANGALORE, July 26: The International Airport at Devanahalli near Bangalore is likely to be cleared as a joint venture project, with the Tata-led consortium, the State Government and the National Airports Authority of India (NAAI) as partners to develop the new airport.A highly-placed Civil Aviation source told The Indian Express that the equity details would be worked out after the Centre cleared the new aviation policy for implementation. ``The new aviation policy is specific on new aviation ventures,'' he said.The new policy does not allow big airport projects on build-own-operate (BOO) basis, thereby ruling out the question of allowing the Tata - led consortium to build the airport on its own. The Tata-led consortium is understood to have appreciated the Centre's stand and has almost relented to the conditions laid down by the Centre.The new policy was expected to be cleared by the cabinet sub-committee sometime by August and was expected to be implemented by early September. The State Government, which has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry for an early clearance of the project, is awaiting its reply. The memorandum of agreement (MoA) is expected to be signed in September.Sources said that the project had turned controversial as the Centre did not agree for BOO and wanted the consortium to transfer it at a later stage to the Civil Aviation department. Also, the Defence Ministry had raised objections about the shifting of operations from the present HAL-owned Bangalore airport to the new International airport. ``The ministry is earning about Rs.12 crore a year from the present airport and has made a huge investment in the last few years to cater to the needs of the airlines. We will not allow the facilities created over years to go waste'', said a HAL spokesman.The Civil Aviation department has almost overcome this problem too. Even after the development of new international airport, the present HALowned airport would be used for all VVIP flights, training flights and also short haul civil flights of less than one hour duration. All the international flights, long distance domestic flights and freighters would operate from the new airport, it has been suggested. However, the modalities would be worked out after the joint venture took shape.As far as the composition of the joint venture is concerned, the State Government's contribution would be by way of granting land. Already 3,300 acres of land has been acquired and final award for the land owners was being worked out. The NAAI's role would be restricted to providing expertise and personnel to man the Air Traffic Control (ATC). The major chunk of investment to provide buildings and infrastructure, including navigational aids, would come from the Consortium.The Memorandum of Agreement would also specify the time-frame by which the Consortium would get back its investment. The presence of NAAI in the joint venture would enable the project to get speedy clearances under civil aviation rules, besides getting more flights to the City under bilateral agreements with various countries. (For any airline to operate in Bangalore, permission from the DGCA is required).Meanwhile, the State Government has entrusted the responsibility of laying an exclusive road from the City to Devanahalli airport to the Public Works Department.
