Navi Mumbai International Airport. - Photo: ANI
NEW DELHI: (Bernama) India's Mumbai region has a new international airport to cater to the rising travel demand of its densely populated and vast urban area.
Navi Mumbai International Airport's phase one has been developed at 196.5 billion rupees (about US$2.2 billion) in a partnership between Adani Airport Holdings and the state-run City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new airport on Wednesday (Oct 8).
"Today, Mumbai's long wait has ended. Mumbai has got its second international airport," Modi said.
The new airport is expected to enhance the Indian financial capital's position as a regional transport hub and create significant business opportunities for the Mumbai conurbation.
The airport, located on the outskirts of Mumbai, features one runway and one terminal, designed to handle 20 million passengers per year in its first phase.
Commercial operations are likely to begin in December.
It aims to ease congestion at Mumbai's busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), which has an annual passenger handling capacity of 55 million.
CSMIA is also managed by Adani Airports Holdings, the airport division of Adani Enterprises, owned by Gujarat-based tycoon Gautam Adani. - Bernama
