State begins preparations for MMR’s third airport near Palghar

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has taken its first steps towards building a third airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) at Vadhavan, where one of the biggest ports on India’s west coast is being constructed.

The state government-run Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) on Thursday began a pre-feasibility study for the development of a greenfield airport in the Palghar district. ‘Greenfield’ is a term used to describe land that has not previously been developed. The state government is also planning to build a new city around the proposed airport in Palghar.

“The consultants will tell us what is feasible in the Vadhavan area,” said Swati Pandey, managing director of MADC. “This is a first step by the government.”

If greenlit, the new airport would be the third in MMR after the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai and the under-construction airport in Navi Mumbai, which is likely to be inaugurated in April.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told Hindustan Times that the idea behind the proposed project, which has been approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is to “create an ecosystem of a third Mumbai in Palghar and Vasai-Virar, with a port, airport and bullet train.”

Fadnavis had first discussed the idea of building an airport in Palghar during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Vadhavan port in August last year. The deputy chief minister at the time had said that Mumbai, which has a population of over 20 million, would need a third airport in the coming years. “My suggestion is for the Centre to consider this proposal on reclaimed land near Vadhavan port,” he had said.

The plan for a third airport in MMR has been on the cards for some time, as the existing one in Mumbai is one of the busiest in India. During the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had also mooted the idea of a third airport. The state administration at the time was considering a proposal for a domestic airport at Kelva-Mahim or Dapchari, both in Palghar district.

At a recent review meeting on airports, Fadnavis also discussed the idea of developing a new satellite city at Vadhavan. He said that Vadhavan is going to be one of the top 10 ports in the world, with a lot of commercial traffic passing from there via the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, coastal highway, and the Mumbai-Vadodara expressway.

Navi Mumbai was developed in the seventies as a second Mumbai, while a new city—a “third Mumbai”—is being planned at the end of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as Atal Setu.