Airport Countdown: 30 months to go

AIRPORT COUNTDOWN 30 MONTHS TO GO
Who will win airport race?
Bangalore, Hyderabad Poised For Photo-Finish In Stiff Competition
The Times of India

Bangalore: Competition has reached feverpitch between India’s IT cities Bangalore and Hyderabad: Construction of both international airports has taken off and the race is set for a photo-finish.

As on paper, Hyderabad will finish a month ahead: Bangalore began construction on July 2, Hyderabad on September 1. But Bangalore is to take 33 months for construction, (April 2, 2008), Hyderabad only 30 months (March 1, 2008).

State officials, however, are not worried about advantage Hyderabad. “Airlines will not see which airport was completed first. They are more concerned about traffic projections and operational efficiency. On both these counts, Bangalore will score more,’’ infrastructure secretary Vinay Kumar told The Times of India.

Traffic projections show disparate customers for the two destinations. And the USP Karnataka is brandishing is: “Unlike Hyderabad, we have a proven airport operator — Zurich airport authority — to run the show here. Operational efficiency will undoubtedly be better.’’

The good news is that work at the international airport site in Devanahalli is ahead of schedule.

Excavation for the terminal building has started, the runway is nearly formed, taxitrack graded and 2 km of boundary wall completed, despite heavy rain. State officials also felt the aviation sector is booming so rapidly that two international airports in the area will not only be feasible but profitable.

So, instead of adopting a confrontationist approach, Karnataka has gone in for amiable cooperation with Hyderabad.

“As always, Hyderabad has benefited from the Bangalore experience. We took time over agreements and details as we are the first greenfield airport. Hyderabad asked us for details, we gave it to them and they took off from there,’’ Kumar said.

Hyderabad is also faster because of a different construction model. They did basic grading work from January, before various agreements were signed, unlike the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) decision for ironclad paperwork, prior to construction.

Hyderabad has opted to give each part of the construction — terminal building, boundary wall, runway — to different agencies, instead of the Bangalore model of giving all to Larsen and Toubro. In Hyderabad, L&T will just construct the terminal building.“It all depends on efficient management. Different models have been adopted, we should see which works better. It will be healthy competition,’’ BIAL officials maintained.


Third month report card

Work on
Terminal building excavation, boundary wall (2 km of 16 km completed), runway (2.7 of 4 km formed), apron area.

Completed
Site offices, workers quarters, testing labs, pre-casting yard, quarry, stone-crusher operational.

Action taken
Second tranche of money released, work expedited on surrounding ground infrastructure works.