Goa Dabolim airport upgradation, expansion work will be completed in 2 years: Patel

The Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel has said that the proposed upgradation and expansion work of the Dabolim international airport will be completed within next two years without cutting down the sanctioned cost of Rs 500 crore. Mr Patel was addressing the media on his arrival at Dabolim airport on Saturday evening. He has arrived in the state in order to attend a wedding party in South.

After having a meeting with the NCP legislators and office bearers including Revenue Minister, Mr Jose Philip D'Souza, Tourism Minister, Mr Francisco Pacheco, Thivim MLA, Mr Nilkant Halarnkar, acting NCP president, Dr Carmo Pegado, Mr Prakash Fadte, Ms Sangeeta Parab, Mr Jeetendra Deshprabhu, Mr Avinash Bhosle, Mr Surendra Sirsat and others in the conference hall of Dabolim airport, the Union Civil Aviation Minister stressed on strengthening the party in the state. Mr Patel informed that the tender process for the upgradation and expansion of Dabolim airport is underway and is expected to be completed before the end of February this year. "The project has suffered a delay due to a certain issue related to the Navy which is being sorted out and Goa will have a world class airport," he stated. The airport has been plagued with the issue of land dispute between Navy and state government. A critical issue of memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pave the way for the construction of a parallel taxi way has also been pending with the Ministry of Defence.