USE IN BETWEEN THE LAYOUT, IN A BOX

First Board Meeting ofthe reconstituted Board was held recently after the Airport Authority of Indiapicked up 51 per cent equity stake in Dholera International Airport CompanyLimited. Board decides to expedite work for Greenfield Airport.

Work on the newGreenfield Dholera International Airport (DIAC) is set to begin soon after thefirst Board Meeting of the Dholera International Airport Company Limited(DIACL) held recently decided to expedite the process. DIACL is a Joint Venturebetween the Airports Authority of India, Government of Gujarat, and theNational Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust with 51 percent, 33 per cent, and 16 per cent stakes respectively.

This was the firstBoard Meeting of the reconstituted Board, after the Airport Authority of India (AAI)picked up 51 per cent equity stake in the company. The Board Meeting was held underthe Chairmanship of Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra (IAS), Chairman, Airports Authorityof India at Gandhinagar.

The airport is setto come up in a Greenfield city under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor(DMIC) project at Dholera and will be built over four years.  According to officials, development of thisGreenfield airport is not just likely to improve connectivity but will alsobecome a catalyst for growth of Greenfield city. It will give a further boostto the Dholera SIR project, improve connectivity and create jobs.

Along with the BoardMeeting, a project review meeting was also held, which was attended by seniorofficials of Airports Authority of India. The meeting focused on the plans to implementthe airport project on a fast-track basis.

Officials from the AAIprovided the necessary technical inputs to the concerned state departments asper the requirements of new Greenfield airport. They also requested the statedepartments to provide requisite support for infrastructure, such as roadconnectivity, electricity supply, water supply, flood mitigation work, andearth reclamation.

Shri M K Das,Principal Secretary, Industries and Mines Department assured the officials ofthe Airports Authority of India about full support from all state departments.