Dholera International Airport - Smart Homes Infrastructure

1. D Dh ho ol le er ra a I In nt te er rn na at ti io on na al l A Ai ir rp po or rt t – – S Sm ma ar rt t H Ho om me es s I In nf fr ra as st tr ru uc ct tu ur re e The development of Dholera International Airport which has been named as “New Ahmedabad Airport” will commence anytime soon as the expected clearances have been received from the government of India. As the name suggests, the Dholera airport is an extension to the existing Ahmedabad airport and shall prove instrumental in bearing the increasing passenger load in the region. A catalyst to propel the economy of India’s first smart city- Dholera, the international airport aims to provide superior connectivity for the region and boost international trade and exports and easy access for foreign investors. Indian Aviation Scenario:- Before we go ahead with the need for Dholera Airport, let us explore how the Indian aviation market is expanding. As per reliable sources, India shall likely be the largest aviation market by 2030. The fleet size is expected to go up exponentially and reach 1000 by 2020 and 1600+ by 2031. The industry shall largely be influenced by the explosion in Indian Travel and Toursim industry, which is expected to grow two fold to USD270 billion by 2023. Favourable grants and policies will further make the sector extremely lucrative on the globe.

2. The need for Dholera Airport:- As per sources, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad- which bears a maximum capacity of handling 18 million passengers per year- shall exhaust its capacity by the year 2025-2026. Going by the past trends, Manoj Gangal – Director Ahmedabad international airport, comments that the airport has been a witness to redoubled passenger traffic in every three years. In terms of growth, the Ahmedabad airport has reported the highest growth in domestic passengers all over India and the second highest growth in international passengers, right after the Kolkata airport. Dholera international airport, which is expected to become fully operational by the year 2022, shall therefore offer a huge relief to the overloaded Ahmedabad airport. Moving forward, another medium-sized airport is also planned at Rajkot to primarily cater to the domestic passengers of nearby region. Then, the New Ahmedabad Airport shall cater to the passenger traffic flowing in from Ahmedabad, North and Central Gujarat while Rajkot airport with cater to the Saurashtra region in Gujarat. Location & Funding:- The construction site for Dholera airport is located near Navgam Vilage in Dholera taluka and measures about 1,426 hectares. The place is located 80 kilometres from Ahmedabad and at a distance of about 20 kilometres from Dholera Special Investment Region. To make the airport scalable and easily reachable by the residents of Ahmedabad, a six lane expressway is planned between the two cites. This shall connect them within a span of one hour, which is also the current time spent by Ahmedabad citizens to travel to the existing airport during peak hours. A special purpose vehicle- Dholera International Airport Company Ltd (DIACL) - has been formed to overlook and govern the developments of the project. The project shall be built on a PPP model and is estimated to cost Rs. 2100 crore in totality. The first phase of the airport shall however cost Rs. 1600 crores. Two more phases will follow subsequently and the completion is targeted by the year 2022. The airport shall feature two runways – 2910 metres and 4000 metres. It is being planned and prepared to accommodate and handle wide and long haul aircrafts, along with the generic fleet of aircrafts. Meanwhile, developments of green buildings, roads and Dholera’s 5000 MW Solar Zone is also in full swing. These projects together are expected to drive the city’s momentum and attract investments and employment opportunities. Development Milestones :- The idea of developing an international airport in Dholera is not new. By January 2010, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had already been assigned the role to conduct a feasibility study of the project. The technical go ahead was received the following month which stamped the likelihood of the project taking off soon. Four years later, in 2014, the project received its site clearance from the

3. Ministry of Civil Aviation, Central Government and a year later in 2015, the environmental clearance was received. In January 2016, the In-Principal approval also made its way from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The airport is now all set to be developed as per the guidelines of the Greenfield Airport Policy of Government of India. For more on Dholera international airport, contact us at https://www.dholera-smart-city- phase5.com , https://www.smart-homes.in/ Sources: http://www.gidb.org/dholera-international-airport http://www.dmicdc.com/subproject.aspx?mprojid=16&projid=49 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dholera_International_Airport https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/work-to-start-on-intl-airport-in-dholera-in- 19/articleshow/64249775.cms