PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate Navi Mumbai airport on October 8: Here's all you need to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the Navi Mumbai International Airport on October 8, a senior Maharashtra government official said on Saturday.

The official also said the commercial flight operations from the greenfield facility will commence in December.

Here's all you need to know:

Cost of building, ownership

The airport has been built at a cost of ₹19,647 crores. The airport, the second in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region after the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, secured its aerodrome licence from the aviation safety regulator DGCA on September 30.

"Almost ₹19,647 crore have been spent on phase one, and once all the four terminals are completed, we would have an approximate expenditure of 1-lakh crore," Singhal said.

The project is being developed in multiple phases by Navi Mumbai International Airport, in which Adani Group has a 74 per cent stake, and the remaining 26 per cent with the Maharashtra government's land development authority CIDCO.

PM visit plans

"Second airport of Maha Mumbai -- Navi Mumbai International Airport -- is going to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8," CIDCO Vice Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Singhal told PTI after a media briefing.

Singhal said the Prime Minister will land at the Navi Mumbai International Airport at around 2.40 pm and will remain at the facility for almost two hours.

"The Prime Minister will first visit the terminal building, and then take a round of the terminal building, and then he will be addressing the audience," Singhal added.

Capacity

Spread across an area of 1,160 hectares, Navi Mumbai International Airport, upon completion of all phases, will have four terminals with a capacity of 90 million passengers per annum and a cargo capacity of 3.25 million metric tonne, making it one of the largest aviation hubs in Asia.

"To begin with, we have completed terminal one, having a capacity of 20 million passengers per annum, 0.8 million metric tonne of cargo capacity and one runway," Singhal stated.

The existing Mumbai International Airport has a capacity of around 55 million passengers per annum, and the new facility will handle 90 million passengers per annum, he added.

"So, once this airport is fully completed, then these two airports together will cater to the almost 150 million passengers per annum, making the two airports a big aviation hub globally," Singhal said.

Notable features

Navi Mumbai International Airport will be the first aerodrome in the country to be connected by expressways, highways, metros, suburban rails, and even water taxi, he pointed out.

This is also a green airport as it has the storage facility for sustainable aviation fuel, the official said.

Besides being one of the most efficient airports, it would also have an Automated Passenger People's Mover facility, which will internally connect all four terminals, he said.

With PTI inputs