Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) Discussions

[rohank]

Mr. Brunner is at it again!

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/...8081484516.asp

BIAL is a functional airport
DH News Service, Bangalore:

Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) CEO Albert Brunner has said that airport capacity is not measured by passengers per annum but by passengers per peak hour.

“Currently, we handle an average of 24 ATMs (Air Traffic Movements) during peak hours and about 303 a day. The ATC figures estimate it to be 30 ATM an hour. This calculated in passengers term result in 11 million passengers annually. BIA can easily handle 30 million passengers a year. You can play with capacity. It is always measured by peak hours. The AAI does not allow more than 30 ATM’s an hour” Mr Brunner said.

On the growth in air traffic, he explained that there has been a drop in overall air traffic since 2007, with the current growth staying put between 10 to 12 percent and a 25 to 30 percent year on year growth, during the last three years.

The construction of the second terminal building will take between two to three years to construct, while the second runway would be completed in three to four years from now.

Expansion plans

“It is not possible to construct it earlier. As far as the immediate expansion plan, we would begin construction of a ‘Terminal at Low Costs’ and not a low cost terminal. It has to be fast, simple and easy to build and should be ready in the next 12 to 15 months. The costs of the expansion are being factored into” he noted.

On the frequent comparison of the BIA with the GMR operated international airport in Hyderabad Brunner said, “Our aim was not to build an architectural marvel, but a world class a functional and operational airport. The Hyderabad airport is 30 percent bigger, but we are functionally superior”.

He added that the airport was conceived during a time when India, was not ready for a privatisation process in airport infrastructure. “Between 2000-02 there was much turbulence in the design aspects and projected air traffic growth. We increased our investment from Rs 1412 crores to Rs 2470 crores. Lufthansa Consulting that did the estimates for us put 2018 for a need of a second runway. We are ahead and would have it in 2012. They might be better in the exterior, but our airport is better inside.o addressed complaints on cleanliness and doubled the number of toilets,” said Mr Brunner.

Emphasising the necessity to convince public and industry leaders on a one airport concept, Brunner said the City will lose out on air traffic if the old airport is opened.

“Airlines would not want it. Aviation growth in the South will be hit. Cities the world over that have two airports have a greater volume of air traffic. What will we tell our concessionaires who have invested Rs 1000 crore” he said.

[mailabode]

Originally Posted by bialterminal

HAL infrastucture is not being put aside. The Benefit of Bangalore is being well taken care of, in fact with the shifting of all commercial operations to BIA, HAL can in fact be more of a benefit to Bangalore in many forms..one of which could be the manufacture of fully assembled small commercial aircraft. It is also setting up an MRO ->
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2008/07/14...1453670400.htm


The last time I checked infrastructure development cost money. No money = no infrastructure=no development; isn't it? Bangalore needs a cost effective mass transit system network, which should be linked to the airport. (meaning Bangalore Metro being linked to airport & Bangalore metro being spread wider to cover many other parts of the city. I am skeptical of a dedicated airport link that ends in the city without good connecting network) Let's leave that to the men who are best at it like Sreedharan (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...2/b4026009.htm) give him our support and hope that politics and we don't derail his efforts.
Bottom line..simple example..our streets need sidewalks..we can build HUGELY EXPENSIVE sidewalks from marble OR sanity can prevail & we can build cost effective concrete ones without corruption. So far we have been in the mentality of ..we don't need this..why should we spend on infrastructure..results are there for all of us to see. Money is being spent on infrastructure now accross the country and the results are here to see.
I request you to state the source where you found that the state is asking the center for 70,000 crores for other infrastructure development. As far as I know the software exports from Bangalore were expected to touch Rs 70,000 crores in 2007-2008 fiscal year - http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/22/stor...2251170800.htm

Bialterminal, Adding to your reply (pleased do correct me if i am wrong about anything) :

"4000 crore spent on only a 2000 crore airport?" - !!!.
Extending that kind of argument - What about how much revenue the 2000 crore airport generates compared to how much the self sustaining 4000 crore train system would generate?, What about the revenue the Central Govt earns 'from the airport plus the rail system', and what about the income the AAI and the Karnataka Govt combined earn as 26% shareholders in BIAL?. What about supporting(connectivity to) an airport that gives to passengers and cargo - 'convenience and sophistication' at a world class facility('world class' when completed and when ugly destabilizing politics has been disconnected from it). What about the de-congestion achieved inside the City and in East/South Bangalore region and the associated monetary savings?.

"2000 Crores", thats it?.
Does this mean the airport is already complete and there will be no completion of Phase I, and no Phases II and III ? . Further, what about the Airport City, Golf course, Hotels, retail etc, and the investments in all that by Indian enterpreneurs and multinationals, and what about the connectivity provided to the thousands of people who will work there ?. What about the connectivity provided to all the future allied businesses and to residents around the airport (such developments are a norm by default wrt to any such big development) ?.

The tube system in London caters not only to Heathrow Airport but also to areas around - similarly its not compulsary our train system should serve exclusively BIAL. And in London, apart from the tube the 'Heathrow express' caters mainly to Heathrow Airport - but it generates enough revenue to not only sustain itself but also make a decent profit - similarly even if our train service serves excusively BIAL airport, its ok as long as it sustains itself(at least its not asking all citizens to pay for it, only the users, and that too only a charge agreed with the Govt after careful deliberation & before any contract is awarded).
Villages generate revenue way way below what cities generate- so we should not have train connectivity to villages? (not so however in developed countries in Europe or the Far East). If the answer is "yes, we should not cater to villages"(with which i disagree), then extending that argument BIAL which will itself be a concentrated business centre in its own right and with revenues far far greater deserves the train line in spite of the initially high relative cost. I think the "4000 for 2000" argument is flawed and meant to be sensational - the focus should be on 'worth on various counts plus self sustainability'.
Have these few people calculated how much the Govt is spending on roads and railway lines in various parts of the country and how much is the worth of the target?. Have they ever bothered to investigate or talk about the true standards of the numerous completed PWD projects and if any funds have been misappropriated? (misappropriation and substandard work mean very high cost).

If some "infrastructure experts" have reservations about the cost of this particular kind of train line, what other alternative ideas/suggestions do they have to build a much cheaper modern sophisticated train system to the Devanahalli airport.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Different issue: Closing down an existing facility:
What were these few people (who say "its criminal" to close an existing facility) doing from 1991 on, when the Govt proposed that HAL will be closed down when the new airport came up wherever. Why did they not raise such significantly loud voices(noises) against closing HAL atleast during the past 3 years?. The system was planned by the Govt for all air travellers and closing HAL was a corner stone for the sutainability of the new system - if a retailer opens a new bigger retail store nearby his old store as part of a modernization plan to cater to a particular area(and if closing the old store was part of the plan), then is there any sense in keeping the old store open just because it is an existing facility or because a few people live next door?- of course in our scenario it makes sense for a few people to keep HAL open because the loss is not theirs - the loss is of an "idiot" investor called BIAL. Well people who claim to be economic rightists also believe in deciding for business entities not their own - about how best to run their busness (deciding for BIAL against their good sense, that a commercial HAL will not affect their business or developmental plans which incidentally were drawn up when they accepted the contract, plans which they believe still hold good)? - strange.

[Devesh]

Originally Posted by bialterminal

I request you to state the source where you found that the state is asking the center for 70,000 crores for other infrastructure development.

Sorry my typo. It is 7,000 Crore. BSY has already requested 5,000 Cr from the Centre. More is under the JNURM. It was in most papers about 3~4 weeks ago.

[Raichen]

Originally Posted by mailabode

I think the "4000 for 2000" argument is flawed and meant to be sensational - the focus should be on 'worth on various counts plus self sustainability'.

I agree with you. I have seen in the past that when ever its convenient for Devesh's argument, the price tag of the airport goes up to 10000 cr and then when it comes to the proposed rail link, suddenly the airport price drops to 2500 cr.

Ofcourse "5000cr rail link for 2500cr airport" argument is more substantial compared to "5000 cr rail link for 10000 cr airport" argument. This is just hypocrisy at its best !

[bialterminal]

Originally Posted by mailabode

Bialterminal, Adding to your reply (pleased do correct me if i am wrong about anything) :

"4000 crore spent on only a 2000 crore airport?" - !!!.
Extending that kind of argument - What about how much revenue the 2000 crore airport generates compared to how much the self sustaining 4000 crore train system would generate?, What about the revenue the Central Govt earns 'from the airport plus the rail system', and what about the income the AAI and the Karnataka Govt combined earn as 26% shareholders in BIAL?. What about supporting(connectivity to) an airport that gives to passengers and cargo - 'convenience and sophistication' at a world class facility('world class' when completed and when ugly destabilizing politics has been disconnected from it). What about the de-congestion achieved inside the City and in East/South Bangalore region and the associated monetary savings?.

"2000 Crores", thats it?.
Does this mean the airport is already complete and there will be no completion of Phase I, and no Phases II and III ? . Further, what about the Airport City, Golf course, Hotels, retail etc, and the investments in all that by Indian enterpreneurs and multinationals, and what about the connectivity provided to the thousands of people who will work there ?. What about the connectivity provided to all the future allied businesses and to residents around the airport (such developments are a norm by default wrt to any such big development) ?.

The tube system in London caters not only to Heathrow Airport but also to areas around - similarly its not compulsary our train system should serve exclusively BIAL. And in London, apart from the tube the 'Heathrow express' caters mainly to Heathrow Airport - but it generates enough revenue to not only sustain itself but also make a decent profit - similarly even if our train service serves excusively BIAL airport, its ok as long as it sustains itself(at least its not asking all citizens to pay for it, only the users, and that too only a charge agreed with the Govt after careful deliberation & before any contract is awarded).
Villages generate revenue way way below what cities generate- so we should not have train connectivity to villages? (not so however in developed countries in Europe or the Far East). If the answer is "yes, we should not cater to villages"(with which i disagree), then extending that argument BIAL which will itself be a concentrated business centre in its own right and with revenues far far greater deserves the train line in spite of the initially high relative cost. I think the "4000 for 2000" argument is flawed and meant to be sensational - the focus should be on 'worth on various counts plus self sustainability'.
Have these few people calculated how much the Govt is spending on roads and railway lines in various parts of the country and how much is the worth of the target?. Have they ever bothered to investigate or talk about the true standards of the numerous completed PWD projects and if any funds have been misappropriated? (misappropriation and substandard work mean very high cost).

If some "infrastructure experts" have reservations about the cost of this particular kind of train line, what other alternative ideas/suggestions do they have to build a much cheaper modern sophisticated train system to the Devanahalli airport.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Different issue: Closing down an existing facility:
What were these few people (who say "its criminal" to close an existing facility) doing from 1991 on, when the Govt proposed that HAL will be closed down when the new airport came up wherever. Why did they not raise such significantly loud voices(noises) against closing HAL atleast during the past 3 years?. The system was planned by the Govt for all air travellers and closing HAL was a corner stone for the sutainability of the new system - if a retailer opens a new bigger retail store nearby his old store as part of a modernization plan to cater to a particular area(and if closing the old store was part of the plan), then is there any sense in keeping the old store open just because it is an existing facility or because a few people live next door?- of course in our scenario it makes sense for a few people to close HAL because the loss is not theirs - the loss is of an "idiot" investor called BIAL. Well people who claim to be economic rightists also believe in deciding for business entities not their own - about how best to run their busness (deciding for BIAL against their good sense, that a commercial HAL will not affect their business or developmental plans which incidentally were drawn up when they accepted the contract, plans which they believe still hold good)? - strange.

Yes, the revenue generation, decongestion etc. are all good benefits and most importantly getting people & goods (in mass quantities) from point A to point B in a reliable manner would be the biggest selling point.
I was amazed by the public transport network in London & we precisely need something like that.
What I liked about Heathrow was the availability of Heathrow Express, Normal tube plus a bus station with connections to many destinations wow so many options for transportation to&from the airport. Paddington is a superb station that is so efficiently run with a high volume of traffic.
Anyways, getting back to the BIA topic, yes, a line extending to the airport and feeding into/off the Bangalore network is the way to go rather than a deicated link. Combined with multiple city chekin terminals it will not matter whether the airport is 20kms away or 40 kms away.
Combined with that if we have high speed trains to nearby cities like Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore etc. on the model of what I saw in London Paddington we would have solved the short haul concerns as well. We need to look at this infrastructure thing as a whole..not in..pieces. The implementation could then be done in pieces. High speed trains will be a sure shot success just going by the sheer volume of people who use trains and there will definitely be a large chunk of people who will pay for better & faster service .

[mailabode]

Originally Posted by Raichen

I agree with you. I have seen in the past that when ever its convenient for Devesh's argument, the price tag of the airport goes up to 10000 cr and then when it comes to the proposed rail link, suddenly the airport price drops to 2500 cr.

Ofcourse "5000cr rail link for 2500cr airport" argument is more substantial compared to "5000 cr rail link for 10000 cr airport" argument. This is just hypocrisy at its best !

Ya i've seen he uses different figures as per convenience, but now i was going only by his figure of 2000 Cr. If i had said 12,000(land+investment) i expected that the discussion would have been deliberately diverted into 'what is the actual cost' or 'something else'.
I wanted to point out that even if today its only 2000 cr, that does not mean the 4000 cr train system caters to an investment of 2000 cr. Plus there are several other very important factors involved which are conveniently ignored.

And after doing all that's been done resultging in people genuinely pointing out mistakes, he goes on Praja and complains he was not treated well. What about the insult to people's basic intelligence by attempting to 'mislead them' time and time again? - just a case of "the pot calling the kettle black" ? - i wonder.

[mailabode]

Originally Posted by bialterminal

Combined with that if we have high speed trains to nearby cities like Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore etc. on the model of what I saw in London Paddington we would have solved the short haul concerns as well. We need to look at this infrastructure thing as a whole..not in..pieces. The implementation could then be done in pieces. High speed trains will be a sure shot success just going by the sheer volume of people who use trains and there will definitely be a large chunk of people who will pay for better & faster service .

Scenario:
If i wanted to go from London to Birmingham i would go by bus or train. To Manchester i might go by plane or train. To Glasgow or Edinburgh i would go preferrably by plane. To Inverness i would go only by plane. Thats based on distances/travel-times and facilities.
Bangalore to Chennai or Salem i would compare to London-Manchester wrt to distance. Bangalore to Coimbatore i would compare to London-Glasgow wrt to distance. Unfortunately a train ride from Banglore to Salem or Chennai is not the same as the train from London to Manchester - and so i would prefer plane from Bangalore to Chennai.

Our Train services need to improve. To have a station like Paddington, Kings Cross St Pancras or Euston would take at least a decade. While high speed trains could help us immensely such a system will take quite a while - first we need to have a reasonably sane polity. Else i feel there will be only isolated and fragmented development.

Finally i would like to add that though Britain's transport network and infrastructue is attractive to emulate, its not the best to compare with - because you would know from where the easy money, free resources and free slave labour came to build the basic tube network(100 plus years old), train network, roads, bridges, ports and other important infrastructure. Comparing with mainland Europe who got their wealth by far more normal means would be a good comparison if we wanted to intrsopect where we stand. I hope you could see the transport network in mainland Western European countries sometime.

Finally may i say that we need to learn building technology from the UK or a similar country(or is it a mistake to say that?).


[IMG]<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26814782@N04/2847562167/" title="JM02 by mailabode, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/2847562167_41f1cae402_t.jpg" width="100" height="56" alt="JM02" /></a>[/IMG]

[dakshinapraja]

This is a BIA thread and not a HAL one, I know, but this is what HAL should be concentrating on, not running civilian airports.

[bialterminal]

absolutely. There is scope for a lot of things at HAL - manufacture and/or overhaul of defence aircraft; manufacture and/or overhaul of commercial aircraft etc.

[bialterminal]

Originally Posted by mailabode

Scenario:
If i wanted to go from London to Birmingham i would go by bus or train. To Manchester i might go by plane or train. To Glasgow or Edinburgh i would go preferrably by plane. To Inverness i would go only by plane. Thats based on distances/travel-times and facilities.
Bangalore to Chennai or Salem i would compare to London-Manchester wrt to distance. Bangalore to Coimbatore i would compare to London-Glasgow wrt to distance. Unfortunately a train ride from Banglore to Salem or Chennai is not the same as the train from London to Manchester - and so i would prefer plane from Bangalore to Chennai.

Our Train services need to improve. To have a station like Paddington, Kings Cross St Pancras or Euston would take at least a decade. While high speed trains could help us immensely such a system will take quite a while - first we need to have a reasonably sane polity. Else i feel there will be only isolated and fragmented development.

Finally i would like to add that though Britain's transport network and infrastructue is attractive to emulate, its not the best to compare with - because you would know from where the easy money, free resources and free slave labour came to build the basic tube network(100 plus years old), train network, roads, bridges, pots and other important infrastructure. Comparing with mainland Europe who got their wealth by far more normal means would be a good comparison if we wanted to intrsopect where we stand. I hope you could see the transport network in mainland Western European countries sometime.

Finally may i say that we need to learn building technology from the UK or a similar country(or is it a mistake to say that?).

Thanks for the insight, I was getting ahead of myself dreaming of a 200kmph train doing the bangalore-chennai 358kms run in 2hrs. But, sorry for being off topic folks..getting back to BIA what are the next steps?.

[bialterminal]

Originally Posted by rohank

Mr. Brunner is at it again!

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/...8081484516.asp

I am concerned with this para from Brunner's statement -

“It is not possible to construct it earlier. As far as the immediate expansion plan, we would begin construction of a ‘Terminal at Low Costs’ and not a low cost terminal. It has to be fast, simple and easy to build and should be ready in the next 12 to 15 months. The costs of the expansion are being factored into” he noted.

Mr. Brunner..if you are listening...I would say take the time & get it right the first time with this expansion. A cost effective solution is fine but in aiming to build a terminal that is low on costs & not getting it right would be disastrous. The most immediate thing that comes to my mind is road traffic distribution and streamlining between the 2 terminals..i hope that will be well thought out. I hope piers will also be there to take care of passenger flow distribution.

[dakshinapraja]

Second runway at BIA: IAF in talks with Aviation Ministry

The Indian Air Force, which had objected to the construction of a second runway at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), is holding talks with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to resolve the issue, Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major said here on Thursday.

[mailabode]

http://www.karnataka.com/watch/blr-airport/news.html - this is the website with all the news about the new Bangalore Airport from the 1990s onward. a few of those news stories are below:-
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Click on individual links for full story

Even after the development of new international airport, the present Hindustan Aeronautics Limied-owned airport would be used for all VVIP flights, training flights and also short haul civil flights of less than one hour duration.

Jul 1997 - http://www.financialexpress.com/old/.../20955193.html

UF leader demanded Rs 500 million bribe to clear Bangalore international airport: Hegde

June 1998 - http://www.rediff.com/business/1998/jun/16bang.htm
Whats the worth of that day's Rs 500 million now?.

Victim of politics

The Tata-Raytheon combine's decision to finally to pull out of the Bangalore international airport project shows how political motivations can effectively scuttle good economic decisions. That there is a need for an international airport of global standards at the software city is clear. A number of MNCs have set up facilities in the city, and it is only logical that to encourage further foreign investment in the region, international quality infrastructure facilities be made available. The airport project, hanging fire for over two years due to bureaucratic and political hurdles, would have gone a long way in sending positive signals to foreign investors.
.................
The global tender for the second airport at Bangalore was floated, as Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), whichruns the existing one for commercial use, wanted to discontinue the service. The Tata consortium had signed the MoU on the basis of the Karnataka government's assurances that HAL would stop commercial operations after the new airport came up, the site of the new airport would be at Devenahalli near Bangalore and that the project would be set up on a build, own and operate basis. The three stipulations have, however, been challenged by individual politicians and political parties, leading to inordinate delays in granting final approval to the project.

Jul 1998 - http://www.expressindia.com/news/fe/...19855344p.html

Everybody knows that unfulfilled commitments, regularly extended deadlines, and out-of-the-blue requirements have kept the country's first greenfield airport wrapped in red tape and grounded.

But what is ironic is that the latest hitch stopping the proposed Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli from taking off is a directive to construct an additional runway parallel to the main runaway.

This directive from the Airports Authority of India to the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has forced stakeholders to acquire an additional 100 acres of land, thus delaying the project. It is now unlikely to start in the next three months as promised by State Industries and Infrastructure Minister P.G.R. Sindhia.

Sep 2004 - http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems...ataka&Topic=0&

The clock, however, is ticking fast for the BIA: if Karnataka does not clear the twin hurdles of state support and land-lease agreements within this year, the project may just fall through. And yet again, Hyderabad will be the gainer, at the cost of the Silicon City.

A BIA senior representative said: "The Hyderabad private airport has signed all agreements and is going full-steam. At this rate, it will be built first and take away bilateral agreements with airlines, making BIA redundant."
With all three consortium partners Siemens, Larsen & Toubro and Unique Zurich Airport — openly airing dissatisfaction, the situation for BIA is deja vu: in 1998, the Tatas-Raytheon-Changi Airport consortium pulled out of the project citing "political and bureaucratic" delays.

Oct 2004 - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...how/900326.cms

CEO of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) Albert Brunner is a worried man because the engineering contract with L&T and Siemens expired in September and a re-validation could mean escalation in the project cost, which now stands at Rs 1,350 crore.

Nov 2004 - http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems...ataka&Topic=0&

Dharam hijacks project, snags continue to hound airport

Dec 2004 - http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems...aka&Topic=338&

The Bangalore International Airport project, which finally obtained `in-principle consent' from the Cabinet on Saturday, is now facing opposition from an unlikely source: the State Government's JD(S) ministers who seem to be fighting it tooth and nail and are hell-bent on placing umpteen hurdles in its path.

Dec 2004 - http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems...ataka&Topic=0&

Another problem lands on airport runway.....................Things appear propitious for these deadlines as all agreements from the state side are over and the BIAL board has cleared most of other agreements for signing. But, there is a hitch over the valuable land of the airport.

"Everyone wants the land. First, 400 acres acquired for the airport was taken away by the state government itself with the aim of commercial profits. Now the Airports Authority of India wants land for residential sites for their officials," officials said.

The BIAL is furious over this, particularly because they say AAI has tried to get this land without discussions.
"AAI has inserted a clause in the air traffic management agreement (CNSATM), insisting on staff housing within airport premises, without letting us know. The agreement was discussed for two years, all clauses were decided upon, an insertion like this is not a good business practice," Brunner told The Times of India.

BIAL has shot off letters to both AAI and the government expressing unhappiness and insisting this clause be deleted. Their contention: there is no airport in Europe or anywhere else which has housing on its site.

Mar 2005 - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1041602.cms

Work on Devanahalli airport begins AGAIN

Aug 2005 - http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/23/stor...2316840100.htm

While Bangalore sleeps, new Hyderabad airport to take off by March 2008 - http://www.karnataka.com/watch/blr-airport/news.html.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Hyderabad airport to take off by March 2008
....................................
....................................
According to the GMR Group Head-Project Management, Mr Bruce Benjamin, HIAL is working for the completion of all the facilities before the end of 2007 and would conduct trial and certification of the facilities for the next three months.

He said the international airport would be much bigger in capacity compared to the one coming up at Bangalore and would have runways to accommodate the A-380 aircraft.

Oct 2005 - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...1103550900.htm.
So HIAL and BIAL both were completed according to plan it appears?.

No question of reconsidering resignation: Murthy

Nov 2005 - http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems...galore&Topic=0

BIAL redesign by Dec. end

Dec 2005 - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1316958.cms

Expansion plans may prove costly
Eight months into construction, the spectre of delay has loomed over the Bangalore international airport (BIA) yet again. If a decision on airport expansion is not taken within 15 days, the pace of progress will be hit.

From September 2005, expansion of BIA from its planned capacity of 4.5 million passengers to 11.4 million was on the anvil. In October, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel told the airport company - Bangalore International Airport Limited - that expansion was mandatory.

"These plans have been to be finalised soon, lest the progress will be hit," infrastructure secretary Vinay Kumar told The Times of India. Every day of delay will hit the construction work on the ground, which will soon have to be halted till the final decision is taken. The BIAL discuss the issue on March 9.

The stumbling block is the question of who will build the additional areas needed for capacity expansion. The Centre has indicated that BIAL should tender out these areas for fresh bidders.


................
This has caused consternation, as the largest segment of expansion is the terminal building, which Larsen and Toubro is constructing."L&T cannot construct one bit of it and ask some one else to do the rest. Design and quality is bound to change," airport sources said.

Besides, the fresh tendering process will take a few months. This may affect the scheduled airport completion date of April 2, 2008. Kumar said both factors had been taken into consideration.

"There is no question of compromising on deadline. Considering this and the physical restrictions, we are working out what and how much can be tendered out again," he said. BIAL, the Airports Authority of India and the state government, through the Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation, have each worked out their own formula.

These will have to be synchronised and cleared by the BIAL board before further construction can take off. The plus point: Financing for expansion has been worked out. The airport will cost Rs 1,811 crore (up from Rs 1,411 crore). But there will be no increase in the state support share of Rs 350 crore. The additional Rs 400 crore will be raised as debt.

Mar 2006 - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...16,curpg-2.cms
This is during Deve Gowda's son's tenure as CM.






Is this what people describe as "A BIAL forced concession agreement" ? - http://news.oneindia.in/2006/09/07/c...157622449.html





Govt to auction excess land near International Airport - http://news.oneindia.in/2007/03/08/g...l-airport.html . http://news.oneindia.in/2007/05/09/k...l-airport.html - another way for Gowda to make money?. That's the second auction - total auction more about 1100 acres.

[dakshinapraja]

Originally Posted by bialterminal

Mr. Brunner..if you are listening...I would say take the time & get it right the first time with this expansion. A cost effective solution is fine but in aiming to build a terminal that is low on costs & not getting it right would be disastrous. The most immediate thing that comes to my mind is road traffic distribution and streamlining between the 2 terminals..i hope that will be well thought out. I hope piers will also be there to take care of passenger flow distribution.

I agree..one other point is that, if BIAL had designed an aesthetically more pleasing structure with vertical separation for the present terminal, it would have reduced criticism considerably. So, BIAL, do plan a proper expansion and improve BIA to world class standards.

[dakshinapraja]

Mailabode, thanks for the detailed compilation. In particular this is striking:

The global tender for the second airport at Bangalore was floated, as Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), which runs the existing one for commercial use, wanted to discontinue the service. The Tata consortium had signed the MoU on the basis of the Karnataka government's assurances that HAL would stop commercial operations after the new airport came up, the site of the new airport would be at Devenahalli near Bangalore and that the project would be set up on a build, own and operate basis. The three stipulations have, however, been challenged by individual politicians and political parties, leading to inordinate delays in granting final approval to the project.

[mailabode]

Originally Posted by dakshinapraja

I agree..one other point is that, if BIAL had designed an aesthetically more pleasing structure with vertical separation for the present terminal, it would have reduced criticism considerably. So, BIAL, do plan a proper expansion and improve BIA to world class standards.

DP, was not a problem if they had money. How can they have had the necessary funds - if history was as the events in post #433 ?. They had been milked like hell as well.

[dakshinapraja]

True...

[2Paise]

Bangalore int'l airport heading for bankruptcy

[bialterminal]

Originally Posted by dakshinapraja

I agree..one other point is that, if BIAL had designed an aesthetically more pleasing structure with vertical separation for the present terminal, it would have reduced criticism considerably. So, BIAL, do plan a proper expansion and improve BIA to world class standards.

Yes, dual level terminal with a dual level roadway is an absolute must. No doubt about it.

[bialterminal]

Originally Posted by 2Paise

Bangalore int'l airport heading for bankruptcy

The UDF was known well in advance and within the bounds of the CA. Everyone was sleeping till now and when it got incovenient the UDF is a contention; folks want a free lunch after getting the airport. If the UDF was going to be such an issue then the government should not have agreed to it in the first place. I think it is a miracle that Bangalore got the new airport in the first place considring the political maddness that surrounded & still surrounds the project.