India
Face of the future? I>
t is just six years since GMR and GVK and their partners won concessions to operate India’s principal airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, but work has already begun to transform these gateways into thriving airport cities and aerotropoli. GMR is in the process of creating a
1,000-acre aerotropolis around Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, incorporating a 250-acre special economic zone (SEZ), four maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hangars and is reported to be in talks with the Apollo Group to build a hospital on airport land. A 250-acre aerotropolis is under development at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, to consist of several “ports” linked to the gateway, including seaports, cargoports and an entertainment port, according to Kamesh Rao, COO of GMR. At Mumbai, GVK is looking to spend
US$2 billion developing 200 acres into mixed-use commercial properties, including retail, hospitality and convention facilities over the next 8 to 10 years. Last year, it was reported that Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which operates Bengaluru International Airport, intends to develop 515 acres of commercial real estate near the gateway
14 Issue 1, Volume 5
with a view to generating 60% of revenue from non-aeronautical sources. In November 2008, a 321-room
Trident Hilton Hotel opened near Bengaluru, and UK company Gleeds is involved in developing convention facilities around the airport perimeter. Impressive as these projects are, many are still at an early stage, but India’s first fully fledged aerotropolis is due to open next year at Durgapur in West Bengal. Built on 650 acres of virgin land in Barddhaman district around a single runway airport, the development will be an airport city in its most literal sense, including residential blocks, schools, colleges, hostpitals, golf courses and even theme parks. “The airport will act as an economic engine and will be a catalyst for growth for the entire region, which is currently starved as far as air traffic movement is concerned,” says Subrata Paul, director & CEO of Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL), the consortia that is developing the aerotropolis. According to Paul, the Durgapur Aerotropolis will be equipped with a science and technology park to attract high-tech and R&D companies to settle in the area. A logistics park will foster greater trade and flow of goods between northeast and south Bengal, to Bangladesh and central and
Boosted by the influx of private investment and new greenfield builds, airport cities are springing up across India, writes Oliver Clark.
southern India. Green technology companies, light manufacturing industry and health tourism are all expected to spring up, boosting the local economy. “The aerotropolis will ignite the real estate
sector. Real estate developers within the Asansol Durgapur Planning Area (ADPA) are looking at a growth story within the Durgapur catchment area, with a lot of development expected to happen,” enthuses Paul. In the southern state of Kerala, the privately-owned Cochin International Airport is busily developing a 450-acre airport city, based around aeronautical support operations and making the airport a business destination in its own right.
Airport operator Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has unveiled a master plan that calls for the building of an aviation academy, a 35-acre industrial park, catering to IT, ITES and biotechnology companies, several hotels, an 18-hole golf course, a convention/exhibition centre, an amusement park and a ‘cultural village.’ Late last year the airport opened two
2,750m narrowbody MRO hangars to “fill the current vacuum” for a dedicated MRO servicer in India’s southern peninsula. Cochin has acquired government clearance to introduce an SEZ around the airport to incentivise companies to locate there.
GLOBAL AIRPORT CITIES
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