Maharashtra Finance Minister Ajit Pawar announced on Tuesday that the first phase of the Navi Mumbai airport would be operational by March 2025. During the presentation of the state budget for 2024-25, he also revealed the preparation of a new MSME policy for the state. Pawar disclosed the government's intention to provide tap water connections to nearly 10.47 million households under the Jal Jeevan Mission and to offer 34,400 homes for Divyang people through the Housing for All Scheme.
Furthermore, Ajit Pawar shared plans for the construction of Maharashtra Bhavan in Ayodhya and Srinagar. To acquire land in these locations, an allocation of Rs 770 million was proposed. The Finance Minister highlighted the government's decision to double the pension for freedom fighters from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. Additionally, the government proposed the establishment of memorials for prominent figures like Ahilyabai Holkar, Jyotiba Phule, Lahuji Salve, and others.
Regarding the Navi Mumbai airport, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had previously stated that commercial operations would commence by March 31, 2025. He mentioned in January that 55-60 percent of the project's work had been completed. The Adani Group is developing the Navi Mumbai Airport project, divided into five phases with a total capacity of handling 90 million passengers per annum.
The first two phases are designed to handle 20 million passengers per annum. The minister emphasized that the Navi Mumbai International Airport would be the first in the country with automated passenger movement within its 1600 hectares, spanning ten kilometers on the city side and airside, creating a 100 percent green airport in the initial phase.
The subsequent phases (three, four, and five) will include a second runway, four terminals, and an increased passenger capacity of 9 crore. Upon completion of all five phases, the airport will boast four terminals and two runways. Work on the second airport project in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region commenced in 2018.
Connectivity to the Navi Mumbai airport will extend in three directions via NH 4B (348), the Sion Panvel Highway, and through Atal Setu. Rail connectivity will be established through Targhar Railway station, while metro connectivity will be facilitated by metro lines 2D (DN Nagar to Mandale ? Mankhurd), metro line 8 (Mumbai Airport to Navi Mumbai Airport), and the Navi Mumbai Pendhar Belapur Taloja metro line.
