Bihar gets Rs. 850-cr airport expansion project

Decks seem to have been cleared for the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport's expansion after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Bihar government signed an agreement recently. In the first phase, work on the terminal building will be taken-up followed by other operational requirements at an investment of Rs. 500cr. This will increase the passenger capacity upto 1.5 million. The second phase, the Union civil aviation Secretary said, will cost another Rs. 350cr, to take care of another 1.5 million passengers. After the completion of both the phases, Patna Airport passenger-capacity will increase three times to 4.5 million. The new re-developed airport will be the state-of-the-art facility equipped with ultra-modern facilities like night parking for aircrafts, etc. The first phase is likely to begin by mid-July and will be completed by 2019, after which, work on the second phase will start and is slated to be completed by 2021. The AAI board last month gave its consent for the transfer of around 11.5 acres of land at Anisabad to the Bihar government in return for equal area at the state's hangar, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot and land owned by the Special Task Force (STF) adjacent to the airport, said official sources.