Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the international airport at Goa’s Mopa and several other projects on December 11 during his visit to the coastal state. Sawant told reporters here that the Rs 2,870-crore airport at Mopa in North Goa would be the second hub in the state apart from the existing one at Dabolim.
He said that in the first phase, the airport’s capacity would be to handle 44 lakh passengers annually and after the completion of the entire project, it would go up to one crore passengers. The CM said that the existing Dabolim airport has the capacity to handle 85 lakh passengers in a year, but it does not have the cargo handling facility, which is at the new airport.
“Prime Minister Modi will reach Goa on December 11 and inaugurate the first phase of Mopa International Airport,” he said. GMR Goa International Airport Limited will operate the new facility for a period of 40 years, which can be extended for another 20 years. The Chief Minister said that the project is spread over 2,312 acres of land in North Goa.
The Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister would also participate in the closing ceremony of the World Ayurveda Congress in the state capital Panaji. He said Modi will also virtually inaugurate the All India Institute of Ayurveda in North Goa, the National Institute of Unani Medicine, Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) and the National Institute of Homeopathy, New Delhi.
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