Himachal Pradesh firm to build interim terminal building of upcoming international airport at Halwara

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 14

Finally, the work has been awarded to construct the interim terminal building of an upcoming international airport at Halwara in Ludhiana, the administration has confirmed.

The work was allotted to a Himachal Pradesh-based construction company at Rs 2,272.5 lakh, the officials have said.

CM SPEAKS

The construction of the new international airport has been taken up on priority to ensure its completion by June next year. This will give a major boost to the economic development of Ludhiana and help attract more investment and jobs for the Punjab industrial hub. Charanjit Singh Channi, CM

Sharing details, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma told The Tribune, here on Tuesday that of the total five eligible bidders, Synergy Thrislington of Solan was awarded the work to construct the interim terminal building of the new international airport after being found to be the lowest and the most suitable bidder.

He disclosed that the firm has been given six months to complete the allotted work.

Divulging the progress of the ongoing work, Superintending Engineer, PWD (B&R), Rakesh Garg, said the interim airport terminal will be built on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode on the lump sum basis at the Halwara air base.

He said the already awarded work for the construction of internal roads, estate public health services and campus lighting at the airport terminal has picked up pace. The work was allotted to Ludhiana-based Ceigall India Limited at Rs 1,604.15 lakh on the EPC mode with six-month completion deadline.

After missing the January 2022 deadline earlier set by the state government to make the new airport operational following much delay in granting the final approval from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the PWD (B&R) had floated two separate tenders for the construction of the airport project.

While the construction of an internal approach road, taxiway, car parking and apron has been in progress for the last month, the work has begun to design an interim terminal building.

It was on October 22 that the AAI had accorded formal nod to the construction of a new interim terminal building for the upcoming international airport at the cost of Rs 4,691.12-lakh.

The project entails construction of interim terminal building spread over 2,000 square metre area with other associated works, including construction of apron, taxiway, car parking and development of internal approach road.

According to the AAI nod, the interim terminal building will be constructed by the Punjab Government through the state government funds, which will be reimbursed to Punjab or its designated agency by the AAI after monetisation of its land at the existing Sahnewal airport in Ludhiana.

Already, the construction of the airport link road and 2,333-metre-long boundary wall has been completed.

In a bid to give a boost to the industrial and economic activity in the state, the Punjab Government and the AAI are jointly setting up a new international civil terminal at the Air Force Station in Halwara, which is one of the oldest frontline airbases of the Indian Air Force (IAF), close to Ludhiana.

Sahnewal airport to shut

Ludhiana, which is Punjab’s largest industrial and business city with a population of nearly four million people, is presently serviced by a small domestic airport at Sahnewal, which will be shut once the new international airport begins operations. Ludhiana also has the advantage of being at the geographical centre of Punjab.

Future development

While the work on the construction of 3-metre-high with 660-mm thick punch tape concertina and barbed wire fencing has been completed by the PWD (B&R) at Rs 301.16 lakh provided by GLADA, the widening and strengthening of the existing 5.1-km link road from Aitiana village to international airport from existing 10-ft to 18-ft width has been completed by the Punjab Mandi Board at Rs 8.17 crore. The work also included construction of two bridges, each of 8-metre span, on the Halwara drain.

Prefabricated structure

The project entails building an interim arrangement to attend to immediate requirements to make international flights available to the residents of Ludhiana, which is the state’s largest industrial and business city.

The interim terminal building will be a prefabricated steel structure with a modern outlook, spread over a 2,000-square km area with 3,800-square metre canopy space having a seating capacity of 300 passengers.

The PWD (B&R) is the main executing agency, while a private firm has been hired for architectural design of the project.

The scope of the project includes a new terminal building along with the ancillary facilities like apron taxiway extensions, substation, boundary wall and approach road.

Modern facilities

The terminal will be a state-of-the-art building as per norms and requirements of the AAI, while construction of apron will be suitable to park one AB321-200 type aircraft and widening of taxi track and car park will accommodate 75 cars.

The common concourse area will have provision for snack bar, toilets, AC switch room, drinking water, separate toilets for men and women, first-aid room, supporting office for the AAI and airlines. The check-in area will comprise four check-in counters, adequate queuing space and baggage conveyor belt with storing space for 50 baggage trolleys.

Besides the flight information display system with adequate number of display devices in departure, arrival and security hold area for passenger facilitation, an adequate number of X-ray machines for scanning baggage with required number of security equipment will be installed as per the AAI norms.

Alternate road

Before the construction of a regular terminal, an interim building will come up to begin the airport operations here. Land measuring 161.28 acres — 135.54 acres for airport and 25.74 acres for future development — have already been acquired.

An alternate approach road to the airport from the Delhi-Katra Expressway is also under proposal by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Project report

Total project area: 161.28 acres

Terminal area: 2,000 sq m

Awarded cost: Rs3,876.65 lakh

Completion target: June 2022

Boundary wall, approach road cost: Rs309.33 cr

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.