India is developing an ambitious plan to boost the country’s fledgling airport infrastructure. Economic planners estimate the voracious appetite for commercial air travel will require an investment of about $30 billion by 2020. Now at 100 million passengers per year, traffic is expected to reach 180 million by 2015 and 300 million by 2020, according to Ministry of Civil Aviation estimates.
More than 20 proposals are currently under consideration for greenfield airports, and some $3 billion is expected to be spent on the sector in the next three years. The to-do list includes the newly approved Mumbai Airport, expected to cost $2 billion; upgrades to smaller airports; a greenfield airport at Mopa in Goa, with a consultant soon to be named; and the Pakyong airport in Sikkim, where construction has started.