An Airport with an inbuilt City

An airport that has been built on over 650 acres of land, with estimated revenue of 600 crores, is now all set ready to go. In fact, it has started spreading its wings to take off in full swing. Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited (BAPL) constructed an airport city at Durgapur, West Bengal. The Company also developed this city into a big Skycity. 

Durgapur airport, is also called Andal airport because of its nearby proximity to Andal, (a small town near Durgapur), is expected to run flights from Durgapur to different cities of India. Currently the company BAPL has arrangements to run flights in the Durgapur-New Delhi and Durgapur-Kolkata regions only. But it is soon expected to let reach its services to other cities as well. The reason behind operating air services in this region is the boosting up of industries around this zone, which uses extensive man power for production. These are people who have settled down there forming their own township. These are people, who are expected to become good prospects for this project. 

BAPL believes that the people working in this industrial sector will need to travel and so will be using their air services. They further constructed Sujalaam – the Sky city – to let people settle down there. BAPL had plans to offer affordable housing for everyone. For this they constructed LIG flats that ranged from five lakhs to fifteen lakhs. Not only did the company constructed housing, but it also had built other associated infrastructures that together form a – so called Skycity. These include:

Some of their other plans are developing 18 Management and Polytechnic Institutes, 17 Engineering Colleges, and two Deemed Universities. 

To boost up the new airport and its services Bengal Aerotropolis Project Limited is offering concessions on air fares, landing and parking fees, in order to generate the airport revenues and to attract more and more passengers. These plans have worked as expected and now the airport has started generating revenues. In addition to this, the West Bengal Government also has waived off the hundred per cent sales taxes on aviation turbine in this Airport sector. 

The airport has been engineered by Singapore’s Changi Airports International, who has given its expertise to bring the best out of this grand project. The entire project has been structured by Partha Ghosh of BAPL. The Skycity concept as developed by Partha Ghosh has been given its name as Sujalaam Skycity.

Author’s bio: BAPL gave Durgapur city what it owed. The efforts of Mr. Partha Ghosh of BAPL brought results.  Mr. Partha Ghosh had a dream to bring-up the Sujalaam Skycity and he indeed came up to it.