Navi Mumbai is set to get an international airport, which is being built considering the high air traffic demand. The new airport will be located in the center of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) at Ulwe in Navi Mumbai.
The under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport will become operational by 2024. As a multi-modal airport, it will have the capacity to accommodate 90 million passengers by 2032.
The airport will be built and managed by Adani Airports, one of India's largest airport operators. To be constructed in four phases, the plan is to make the airport one of the most energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable in the world.
The airport will be seamlessly connected to various transportation systems, including the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the coastal road, and the metro, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said. The inauguration of the new airport will be done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde announced after reviewing the work at the airport in Ulwe.
Challenges were galore in the 1160-hectare land meant for the project. Especially, in the southern part which was shortlisted there was a 2 km long, 100-meter-tall hill with 55 million cubic meters of rock in it, says Charudatta Deshmukh, Joint President Planning and Design of NMIA Project.