Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday, 15 January, said the Navi Mumbai airport is likely to be operational by mid-2020.
Speaking at the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai, Fadnavis also said that as many as nine more airports are in the pipeline in the state besides the Navi Mumbai airport.
"The Navi Mumbai airport will be operational by mid-2020," Fadnavis said.
The airport has the capacity to add 1 percent to our GDP, he added.
While the Pune airport is being developed to cater to one of the major IT hubs in the country, Nagpur airport is being developed for its strategic location in national and international flight routes, he said.
All metros in India are at a distance of around an hour from Nagpur by flight and this connectivity has called for more attention to its infrastructure development, the chief minister added.
A passenger and cargo hub will also be created in Nagpur, Fadnavis said, adding that the state is looking to increase cargo capacity to 40 percent by 2025 from 28 percent at present.
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