KATHMANDU, April 9: Nepal could bring much-talked about second international airport at Nijgadh in Bara district into operation in four years if the government arranged investment of $ 600 million (Rs 42 billion).The picture became clear after Landmark Worldwide (LMW), a Korean company appointed to conduct a detailed feasibility study (DFS) finalized its report. The company is submitting the report to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Aviation (MoTCA) on Sunday.
The proposed airport site lies 150 kilometers from Kathmandu by road.
According to the report, the first phase of the airport can be completed by May 2015 with an investment of $600 million, provided the project gets implemented without any hiccups. It will be able to handle 15 million passengers annually along with A380 planes.
The Korean company has suggested to the government to go for second phase of construction only after properly analyzing the air traffic. If the traffic volume grew substantially within short span, the report says the airport could be expanded and completed by 2025, in the second phase.
According to the report, the second international project will stretch in an area of 80 square kilometers out of which the 40 sq km will be airport. In the remaining area, the government plans to build well-equipped airport city.
LMW officials disclosed they had finished DFR by the end of January, when its deadline to submit the report expired. However, they had pushed the date of submission after the company had disagreement with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) over the issue of construction.
The agreement between MoTCA and LMW states that the government shall prioritize LMW for implementation of the project subject to section 9 of Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) Act.
From- www.myrepublica.com
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