BackGoM to decide on greenfield airport for Greater Noida
GoM to decide on greenfield airport for Greater Noida
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New Delhi: The Union cabinet in its weekly meeting held on Thursday, referred to the proposal of setting up a greenfield project in Greater Noida to a group of ministers (GoM) that will go into the legal aspects of the project. The proposal was made by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved in-principle the state government’s proposal, which has been vetted by the civil aviation ministry, officials familiar with the matter said. “The airport will be called the Taj International Aviation Hub located in Uttar Pradesh. The matter has been referred to a group of ministers," information and broadcasting minister P.R. Dasmunsi said.
The GoM would include Union finance minister P. Chidambaram, law minister H.R. Bharadwaj, and science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, said people familiar with the matter.
According to a feasibility study of the state government, the proposed airport would be located at Jhevar, 60km from New Delhi and 120km from Agra. Under existing norms, the government must consult the GMR-led consortium, Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd which is modernizing New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. It has the right of first refusal.
Among other decisions, the cabinet also approved the continuation of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in the 11th Plan. New projects worth Rs28,000 crore will be taken up under the RGGVY, but 50% of all new projects will now examined by a new quality monitoring mechanism. The state government or an implementing agency will appoint the monitoring committee.
The cabinet also cleared changes to the model concession agreement that governs private sector participation in major ports. Changes to the hydro power policy will ensure the state government will continue to allocate projects while the regulator, Central Electricity Authority, will monitor the new projects.
pragya.s@livemint.com
‘PTI’ contributed to this story.
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