First phase of Navi Mumbai airport to be ready by December 2018: Cidco

The first phase of the new Rs 14,500-crore international airport at Navi Mumbai will be ready by December 2018, even as City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) of Maharashtra has embarked on a Rs 20,000 crore development for the satellite city's nodes.

Cidco has undertaken various initiatives including the settlement with almost all the villages to ensure a smooth land acquisition for the airport, Cidco vice chairman and managing director Sanjay Bhatia said in a statement.

The Phase-1 of the Rs 14,500-crore airport will be ready by December 2018 when the flights will start to take off and land, the communiqué said.

The other key projects that Cidco has undertaken include the Rs2,100-crore metro rail project, the Rs1,412-crore Nerul-Belapur-Uran railway project, the Rs1,450-crore Balganga Dam project and several other works like coastal road and bridges.

The government is reactivating the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) or the Sewree-Uran sea link, while JNPT is doubling its handling capacity to handle large ships and Cidco itself is developing a township for the airport, Bhatia said.

''Infrastructure development is key to any urban development and I am sure the various projects initiated by Cidco will go a long way in Navi Mumbai's rapid progress,'' Rajesh Prajapati, managing director of Prajapati Developers, said. ''The real estate developer community will be happy to play its role in the process,'' he added.

Bhatia said Cidco has also initiated steps to resettle the project affected people with increased compensation and land allotment of developed plots.

Cidco also has prepared a three-year action plan for development of 13 schools, four professional colleges, one degree college, 32 hospitals, 34 religious and spiritual centres and 77 social welfare centres including hostels, indoor sports facilities and community centres in the nodes being developed by it.

Besides, the corporation is improving sports infrastructure be developing large open spaces into cricket and football grounds.

Cidco has chalked out a plan to construct 6,000 affordable houses for the economically weaker sections, low income groups and even the MIG segment.

In collaboration with the Forest Department, Cidco has taken up a Rs 36 crore Nature Park Project.

The 2,000 hectare project will have walking trails, regeneration of forests, water conservation projects, viewing galleries, adventure camps and camping facilities, refurbishing of existing waterfalls and Boulders' Park, Bhatia said in the statement.