L&T wins Rs5,400 crore Delhi Airport contract

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has announced that the company has won a contract valued over Rs5,400 cores from the GMR-led Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd for the expansion and modernisation of the Delhi International Airport.

The order, secured against international competitive bidding, is an end-to-end contract that involves design and construction of a state of the art passenger terminal, and one of Asia's longest runways. The Company will also carry out associated work for the airport, scheduled to be commissioned in time for the prestigious Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Commenting on the order, the company's chairman and managing director, A M Naik, said, "L&T is happy to participate in providing a world class airport for the country's capital. We have an excellent professional relationship with the project developers led by the GMR Group, and look forward to building a magnificent gateway for international visitors to India. As the country's leading company engaged in building infrastructure for India, L&T's strategic plan involves focusing increasingly on large magnitude projects in critical sectors like airports, ports, power and upstream oil and gas."

The new terminal (Terminal 3) will come up adjacet to the existing international terminal, and will have a number of advanced features. Over 130 check-in counters and 70 emigration desks will cater to both domestic and international traffic and will handle 37 million passengers per annum. This is more than twice the present traffic. The new terminal building will have a total built area of 4.8-million sq ft, and will include 74 aero bridges, 56 passenger travelators, IT and security systems, E&M systems, etc.

A new 4.43 km runway will be one of the longest in Asia, and equipped with CAT III B —a landing system that enables landing with a visibility of only 50 meters - will be operational in 2008. The contract also involves connecting taxiways, satellite Fire lighting facilities, etc.

The 'airside' work to be executed by the company includes aprons, remainder taxiways, cargo terminals, aircraft maintenance facilities, utility services and other primary infrastructure support facilities. The 'landside' works includes a six lane road connecting the terminal and national highway NH 8, a new multi-floor car park to accommodate 4300 cars, and a forecourt for the new terminal.