Vidarbha region was delighted when it was announced that Nagpur’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport will be developed into a modern high-tech infrastructure taking into consideration the futurist requirements and accordingly after carrying out the tender process, in 2019 GMR Group was awarded the work. However soon it was challenged by the Government of Maharashtra and the matter went into litigation and is now pending before the Supreme Court of India.
Taking this issue in public interest, Vidarbha Taxpayers Association (VTA) called an Executive Body meeting chaired by its president Shrawankumar Malu, wherein Malu said, it is extremely saddening that the development of Nagpur Airport has being delayed for the last 4-5 years. Such a delay has become a hurdle for the growth of the region; despite the potential, the City of Nagpur is being deprived of much-needed modern airport infrastructure. If we observe the growth potential and its pace, we realise that we are doing marvellously in all other sectors; however, the most important link of a modern upgraded airport is missing.
Tejinder Singh Renu – secretary of VTA said, since the delay is being caused by ongoing litigation between the parties before the Supreme Court of India, it is very difficult to guess when this litigation will get a result. Moreover, the time taken of 2-3 years of such infrastructure development will further take its toll. Any such delay not only adds to the costs of the project, but also causes additional burden on the taxpayers. As of now, VTA is absolutely not interested in any legal intervention, which will only delay this further.
On behalf of the citizens, particularly the taxpayers of the region, VTA dispatched a memorandum to The Registrar – Supreme Court of India, Nitin Gadkari – Union Transport Minister, Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu – Minister for Civil Aviation, Sanjeev Kumar – Chairman, Airport Authority of India (AAI), Eknath Shinde – Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Chairman, Maharashtra Airport Development Authority (MADC), Swati Pandey – Vice Chairman & Managing Director MADC, G. M. Rao – Group Chairman GMR, requesting them to take this issue on priority and settle the matter either via mediation or take this matter on the fast-track and deliver justice as early as possible.
Also present in the meeting were Hemant Trivedi – Vice President, Pawan K. Chopra – Treasurer, Amarjit Singh Chawla & Rajesh Kanoongo – Joint Secretaries, Executive Body Members Adv. Sanjay K. Agrawal, Govind Patel, Pratish Gujarathi, Viru Balani, Harmanjeet Singh Baweja and Narinderpal Singh Osan.