The Hindu Business Line : Both phases of Bangalore airport to be completed simultaneously: Patel

THE Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, has said that both phases of the Rs 1,300-crore Bangalore International Airport will be completed simultaneously.

Mr Patel told newspersons on Saturday that if the airport consortium had executed only the first phase, it would not have been able to keep pace with the traffic projections. "The infrastructure would have fallen short of the amount of traffic at that time," he said, after inaugurating the first tele-ECG and telemedicine services between Air India and Narayana Hrudalaya.

Mr Patel said both the phases would be completed in 2008. He said the traffic projections had to be revised because of the increase in traffic. "The 2015 traffic projections have now been brought forward to 2008 itself because of the revised projections," he said.

Mr Patel said the Ministry had asked the consortium to make certain changes in the design of the airport as the Ministry was not satisfied with its original design. "The project will now be completed on schedule," he said.

The Bangalore International airport is being executed by a consortium consisting of L&T, Siemens, Zurich International Airport, the Airports Authority of India and the Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation. The passenger traffic is estimated to be around 5 million per year with the cargo capacity estimated at about 1.4 lakh tonnes per year.

Mr Patel said with Air India now flying non-stop to the US, the long-haul flights could stretch up to 15 hours, and hence telemedicine will play an important role. "Air India will provide necessary facilities for telemedicine through the Internet," he said.

The Ministry was also keen on promoting medical tourism and hence would examine giving concessions such as reduced landing charges for airlines promoting this kind of tourism, he said.