INDIA AIMS TO BE AMONG WORLD'S TOP 10 AIRPORTS

By P.Vijian

NEW DELHI, July 3 (Bernama) -- India is ready to transform its airport to be
among the world's top ten, with the opening of the newly constructed
international terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI)
Saturday.

"It's a magnificent achievement. Our ambition is to be one of the ten best
airports in the world," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the grand
inauguration ceremony of the new terminal.

Currently it is ranked 21st in the world ranking, a remarkable jump from a
poor 101 in 2007.

The US$2.6 billion (RM9.1 billion) terminal, built under a public private
partnership model (PPP), has the capacity to handle 36 million fliers annually,
which would make IGI a major traffic hub in the South Asia region.

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a consortium led by GMR Group,
comprising Airports Authority of India (26 per cent), German-based Fraport (10
per cent), and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (10 per cent), spearheaded the
mega project.

The Bangalore-based infrastructure giant GMR controls the bulk of the 54
per cent stake in the project.

The airport terminal, with 78 aerobridges, 1.2 km runway, was built in a
record 37 months, making it the fifth largest airport in the world.

"It has set a new global benchmark and signalled the arrival of new India.
We need rapid improvements in our infrastructures, which we are lagging behind.
In time to come we will achieve this," prided Manmohan.

Fending off several hiccups, Indian authorities had been racing with time to
open the new terminal before the Commonwealth Games that Delhi hosts later this
October.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha was also present at the
momentous inauguration ceremony.

--BERNAMA



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