December 2010: Necessary permissions have been given by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) concerning the architectural designing and zoning for the upcoming Chandigarh International Airport. These permissions clear the way for the beginning of the construction process, and the foundation stone of the project is expected to be laid in the next few months.
According to sources, the joint venture company helping to fund the airport joined AAI in a trip to oversee the project when AAI cleared airport designs and maps and approved the project’s chief architect. The costs of first phase constructions are now being calculated, with detailed estimates being prepared for submission to AAI in March.
AAI has already sanctioned around Rs 500 crore for the first phase of the project. The total sanction includes Rs 250 crore for construction of a 3,14,500 square metre terminal building; Rs 50 crore for constructing roads and parking within airport; Rs 90 crore for construction of aprons, Rs 35 crore for construction of hangars and Rs 40 crore for the cargo area.
An AAI official said that the upcoming international airport would three terminals along with a cargo area and waiting lounges for people receiving and dropping passengers. A glass building supported with steel will be built to house a metro station and shopping malls, restaurants, a hotel, and a convention centre will all be available on site. He added that the fully air-conditioned green building would include solar panels to provide solar-powered lighting.
According to the official, the total cost for all four phases of construction for the proposed airport will total over Rs 2,500 crore. The Punjab government, which is funding the project in partnership with Haryana government and AAI, has spent around Rs 500 crore to date on land acquisition, with another Rs 500 crore set aside for roads and other infrastructure.
AAI officials say that following first phase constructions, the proposed airport will be able to handle 1,250 passengers per hour. Peak hour passenger traffic is expected to increase from the current 400 passengers to 600 by 2014. Already, passenger traffic is on the increase at the airport. The 5 lakh current annual passengers is a ten-fold increase from the 50,000 passengers in 1998. The second construction phase is intends to increase per hour passenger capacity to 2,500, which will increase to 3,750 in the third construction phase and 5,000 in the fourth.
The finished airport will have 29 parking bays and 23 terminals: 16 for passengers and seven for cargo. There will also be six hangars, with three allocated for that lease or sale to airlines for plane maintenance. Ground transport parking will be able to accommodate 750 cars in the first phase, according to the building plans. The parking capacity will rise to 1,500 in the second phase, 2,250 cars in the third phase and finally 3,000 cars in the final phase.
Cargo capacities are also planned to increase in stages, with a cargo capacity of 4,200 metric tonnes (MT) per year available by 2013. 2020 will see a further increase to 6,800 MT by 2020, which will go up further to 13,000 MT by 2030 and 20,000 MT by 2040. Most cargo passing through the facility will travel between Chandigarh and Ludhiana in Punjab, Ambala in Haryana and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh to begin with, as in the first phase the facility will be for domestic cargo only. The second phase will facilitate cargo imports, while cargo exports will not take place until completion of the third pahase..
The airport, although fully planned, still does not have an official name. The Punjab government suggested Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh International Airport, but the Union Cabinet has decided to defer the decision until after a talk between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Punjab and Haryana chief ministers to discuss the name.