Kolkata: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Sunday that the central government has prepared infrastructure development plans for West Bengal, including the construction of a second airport for Kolkata. But the Mamata Banerjee government has not been able to provide the land till now. Scindia claimed that he has been demanding talks with the Chief Minister for six months, but there is no response from his side.
The minister said since the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport in Kolkata has reached its capacity, he wants to hold talks with the chief minister for the purpose of setting up a second airport. During the press conference in Kolkata, Scindia said, “We want a new airport to be built in Kolkata, the existing airport is working for many years and it has reached its maximum capacity. Letters and ideas are being exchanged for a new location, but no concrete steps have been taken by the state government.”
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He said that an investment of Rs 700 crore is being made for the present NSCBI airport. Under this, a new technical block cum control tower will be built at a cost of Rs 300 crore and a new taxiway is being built at a cost of Rs 265 crore. The minister said that an investment of Rs 110 crore is being made to connect the Metro Railway with the airport terminal building.
The Minister said that there is a need to build a new airport of two lakh square meters to cater to the increasing number of passengers in Kolkata. It also said that while the existing airport has a capacity of 25 million people, the new airport should have a capacity of 35 crore people.