Breaking news: BIAL receives formal approval

NDTV 24x7 channel just flashed breaking news that the Karnataka Govt. has extended all formal approvals for the Bangalore International Airport project in its Cabinet meeting held today. Phew!!! Details are awaited.

Update:
The actual signing will only happen "soon" :-( What a dampener!

Airport project gets nod from Karnataka govt
NDTV

The Karnataka government today accorded final clearance to the much-delayed International Airport project proposed at Devanahally on the outskirts of Bangalore.

The move will pave the way for commencement of work from February next year.

Briefing the press on the cabinet decision, Chief Minister N Dharam Singh said the government would soon sign the "state support and land lease agreements" with Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL).

Giving details of the approval, Minister for Industries P G R Sindhya said the government scaled down the extent of allotment of land by 400 acres, from 4450 acres to 4050 acres and would not be extending the sales tax exemption sought by BIAL to the tune of Rs 30 crore.

The state had managed to save about Rs 100 crore to the exchequer following acceptance by BIAL on some costs involved in the trial run and interest rate, which has come down from 12 per cent to seven to eight per cent.

Sindhya said the project cost now stood at Rs 1,334 crore and the state support at Rs 350 crore interest free loan, repayable after ten years of execution.

He said the actual state support to the project would be to the tune of Rs 275 crore and Rs 75 crore has been kept as contingency, which could be availed by BIAL, if required.

Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation (KSIIDC), nodal agency for acquiring the land, would soon sign the land lease agreement, and continue to hold the custody of 400 acres of land, acquired already for the project, he said.

"Work would start in February. Now it is in the court of BIAL," Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who holds the finance portfolio said, adding there was no controversy left now.

The state cabinet at its December 11 meeting accorded "in principle clearance" to the project, choosing to seek clarifications on contentious issues like escalation in development cost from Rs 15 crore to Rs 63.6 crore, increase in legal fee from Rs seven crore to Rs 17 crore and about overall requirement of land to the extent of 4000 acres. (PTI)