Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate Goa’s second international airport at Mopa on Sunday during his visit to the state, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Saturday.
The airport, built at at cost of ₹2,870 cr will begin operations starting January 5. According to an official release, the PM will address his first function in Goa at around 3:15pm on Saturday where he will address the valedictory function of the 9th World Ayurveda Congress and later, at around 5:15pm, he will inaugurate the Mopa International Airport.
“It has been the constant endeavour of the PM to provide world-class infrastructure and transport facilities across the country. In yet another step towards this, the PM will inaugurate the Mopa International Airport, Goa,” the statement said.
According to the government, phase I of the airport will cater to around 4.4 million passengers per annum (MPPA), which can be expanded to a saturation capacity of 33 MPPA. The airport will also boost the socioeconomic development of the State and serve the needs of the tourism industry.
It has the potential of serving as a key logistics hub, directly connecting many domestic and international destinations, an official said.
Developed at a cost of around ₹2,870 crores, the airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and has a solar power plant, green buildings, LED lights on the runway, rainwater harvesting, state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant with recycling facilities, among other such facilities.
The airport was tendered in 2014, was awarded in 2016 and the foundation stone was laid on November 13, 2016, by Prime Minister Modi.
GMR Infrastructure won the bid to build, operate and transfer the airport after promising to share 36.99% of the operating profit with the state government. GMR Infra will secure concession rights for 40 years plus 20 years an optional addition. It will also be Goa’s first cargo-carrying airport.
The newly built airport has adopted some of the best-in-class technologies such as 3-D monolithic precast buildings, stabilroad, robomatic hollow precast walls, and 5G compatible IT infrastructure. Some of the features of the airport include a runway capable of handling the world’s largest aircraft, 14 parking bays along with a night parking facility for aircraft, self-baggage drop facilities, state of the art and independent air navigation infrastructure, among others.
So far, two airlines– Oman Air and IndiGo have announced flight operations at Mopa. Indigo has reportedly announced 12 daily and 168 weekly new flights to and from the new airport effective from January 05, 2023, which the airline said would be its largest-ever new station launch.