Bihar fast tracks Rs. 500-cr airport project

In order to provide hassle-free and swift transport facilities to the masses of the area, the state cabinet recently decided to hand over 108 acres of land to Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the construction of airport at Bihta area of the state, Principal Secretary, Cabinet Co-ordination Department, Brajesh Mehrotra said, adding that the government approved the transfer of 108 acres of land to AAI. The whole land has been provided to AAI free of cost and the construction work is all set to start by the end of the next year. The project which will cost Rs. 500cr, will take about two years to complete and the airport is expected to be ready for passengers with a capacity of 2.5 million by October 2019. Depending on growth of traffic, the agencies have decided to undertake a second phase of expansion at Bihta, catering to another 2.5 million passengers, doubling to 5 million total capacities. The civil aviation secretary further said that the increased passenger capacity in Patna and Bihta will then stand at 9 million and will easily take care of passenger inflow for the next 15-20 years.