Today's Edition
(BLOOMBERG)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two landmark transit projects worth nearly $4 billion on Wednesday, marking another milestone in his administration’s effort to modernise infrastructure in the world’s most populous country.
Modi took a tour of the new Navi Mumbai International Airport with billionaire Gautam Adani and his son Jeet. The Adani Group has developed the project.
Modi also rang in the completion of the final phase of the newest metro line connecting southern and central Mumbai via the city’s first underground track.
These new "connectivity projects will strengthen the city’s position as a global hub of growth and opportunity,” Modi said while inaugurating Mumbai’s new airport and metro lines. "India is investing in infrastructure aimed at improving ease of living in India.”
The seaside metropolis, which is also India’s financial capital, is overhauling its decades-old infrastructure, riding a broader wave as billions of dollars gush into India’s logistics projects. Federal and state government spending is on the rise and assets in so-called infrastructure investment trusts, which allow individuals to invest in projects, are expected to surge in the coming years.
India still faces a large funding gap and a rapidly growing urban population that risks overwhelming already strained public systems. Consequently, the administration is taking steps, such as rolling out a government program last month aimed at attracting long-term investors like pensions and life insurance companies.
The airport, built to resemble a lotus - India’s national flower lotus - will span over 1,160 hectares in Navi Mumbai, a satellite city east of Mumbai. It’s designed to handle 90 million passengers per year over time, and will be India’s first airport to be connected by a water taxi.
The new terminal is expected to ease aviation bottlenecks at the city’s sole existing airport that’s already hemmed in with slum clusters on one side. It would also boost real estate development of the surrounding area in Navi Mumbai.
The new airport "will ease the capacity constraints in the Mumbai region” and strengthen connectivity, said Sheldon Hee, regional vice president Asia-Pacific at International Air Transport Association. IATA will collaborate with the Navi Mumbai airport team "to deliver the required capacity efficiently, foster innovation and create a seamless experience for passengers and stakeholders,” he said.
Commercial flight operations are expected to begin in December, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.’s Chief Executive Arun Bansal said at a press briefing on Monday. Initially, it will have the capacity to handle 20 million passengers every year, he said, adding that the group will invest another 300 billion rupees in the second phase of the airport development.
The Adani Group is developing the greenfield airport through a special purpose vehicle, Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt, in which the conglomerate’s airport unit holds a majority stake of 74%. The state-owned City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. holds the remaining 26%.
Modi also opened the final phase of Metro-3, the Aqua Line, the city’s first underground metro line. The line will connect the city’s southern peninsula to the northern suburbs and offer access to the existing airport, alleviating severe overcrowding on the rail system and congested streets.
It will connect to the Bandra Kurla Complex, the city’s major business district, where construction has started on the terminus for India’s first high-speed rail. The bullet train will connect Mumbai to Ahmedabad, the largest city in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
The metro system is being financed by groups including The Asian Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperative Agency, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
