Govt eyes help from Singapore for Purandar airport

5/06/2017

PUNE: Singapore could help the state government in developing the new international airport in Purandar taluka near Pune.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who met group chairman of the Singapore's Changi Airport Lieu Mum Leong in Mumbai, discussed possibilities of collaboration with regards to the development of the new Pune Airport as well as expansion of the airports at Shirdi and Nagpur.

"The group chairman of the Changi Airport had come to Mumbai and a meeting took place between him and the Chief Minister, which was attended by senior officials of the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) as well as other officials of the Changi Airport. Possibilities of collaboration were discussed and we are hopeful that things will move in a positive direction," an MADC official told pune-news.com.

The Chief Minister in his tweet wrote, "Had a very good meeting with Mr Liew Mun Leong, group chairman of one of the finest airports in the world. We discussed ways to collaborate for Sambhaji Raje International Airport, Purandar, and expansion plans for Nagpur and Shirdi Airports."

"Singapore is very advanced in terms of technology and though issues with regards to collaboration are still to be worked out, we hope to cash in on their expertise for developing the new Pune airport as well as two other airports in Maharashtra. More rounds of talks are expected to take place before the details are finalised. The state government is serious about the new airport and all efforts are being made to ensure that it becomes one of the best in the country . The state government is working hard on the project and ensuring that things don't get delayed unnecessarily ," another official pointed out.

Among the issues discussed was the proposed meeting in Delhi on June 7 in which a nod from the ministry of defence for the new airport will be sought.

"A couple of months' back the state government had appointed German company Dorsch to start the techno feasibility study of the proposed airport. With the authorities at Changi Airport helping us too, we hope that things will take a positive leap forward," the official told pune-news.com.