9000 cr investment to enhance Delhi airport capacity in 3 years

New Delhi: An investment of Rs 9,000 crore is expected to be made in Delhi airport in the coming years, according to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, as the aerodrome operator looks to boost capacity. The Indira Gandhi International Airport Ltd (IGIL), the country's busiest aerodrome, is projected to handle 70 million passengers this year. 

Naidu on Tuesday said the Delhi airport would be spending about Rs 9,000 crore to boost capacity and handle 100 million passengers per annum. He was speaking here after unveiling two publications about Delhi airport. 

"I am given to understand that since GMR took over this airport, the number of air traffic movements has gone up by 250 percent, passenger numbers have gone up by 400 percent," Naidu said. Connectivity is the key to economic growth, he added.

 The airport is operated by DIAL - a consortium of GMR Group, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Germany's Fraport. The GMR group-led consortium began operating the aerodrome in 2006. 

GMR Airports Executive Director I Prabhakara Rao said an investment of Rs 9,000 crore would be made at Delhi airport in three to three-and-a-half years. The airport handled 63.5 million passengers in 2017-18 and has around 1,300 flight movements every day.

 Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said the Delhi airport is expected to handle 70 million passengers in 2018 and the numbers would touch up to 11 crore (110 million) in the coming years. 

He also said that the airport employs over 1 lakh people directly and another 5 lakh people indirectly. 

GMR Group Chairman G M Rao said that the Delhi airport is estimated to cross 80 million passengers annually by 2020 and surpass Heathrow airport. Prabhakara Rao also said that the fourth runway at the airport is expected to be completed by end of 2022. 

Currently, the airport has three runways -- 27/09, 11/29 and 10/28. Naidu unveiled two publications -- 'The Economic Impact of Delhi Airport' and a Coffee Table Book on 10-year journey of Delhi airport. 

The Economic Impact Study has been done by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER). As per the report, the airport is expected to generate employment for over 40 lakh people, including indirectly, by 2025-26. 

"The impact on value added after taking into account direct, indirect and induced effects will work out be Rs 2,40,356 crore by 2025-26 (equivalent to 0.60 per cent of estimated national GVA)," DIAL said in a release. 

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal and Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey, among others, were present at the unveiling of the publications.