Changi Airports to invest $20 mn in West Bengal airport city

Singapore's Changi Airports International (CAI) will spend $20 million (Rs.100 crore) on the Durgapur aerotropolis project, an airport city in West Bengal housing aviation-intensive businesses, a top company official said here Thursday.

"We have picked up a 26-percent stake in the company (Bengal Aerotropolis Projects) and have decided to invest $20 million in the Durgapur project," said CAI chief executive Wong Woon Liong at a press conference.

Bengal Aerotropolis, along with the West Bengal government, is developing the Rs.10,000-crore (Rs.100-billion/$2-billion) airport city spread across 2,182 acres.

An airport will be constructed over 650 acres.

Besides the airport, the aerotropolis at the steel city of Durgapur will also house aviation-related infrastructure, including an aviation academy.

There are also plans to build an industrial park with factories, office parks, information technology park, institutional area, hospital, market, school, theme park, community centre and residential areas.

CAI, which will make the investment through its subsidiary Changi Airports India, tied up with Bengal Aerotropolis last year.

"The construction work will begin by the first quarter of the next calendar year," Bengal Aerotropolis chief executive Subrata Paul said.

"The airport is expected to be functional by 2011-12. But the total project completion will take around seven years," he added.

The project was cleared by the civil aviation ministry last December.

Last updated on Jul 16^th, 2009 at 18:38 pm IST--IANS