The State government crossed a milestone when it awarded the tender for construction of the Mopa airport to GMR Airports Ltd. Construction of the airport is one of the five goals set by CM Laxmikant Parsekar for his government. Of course, the Rs 4,500 crore airport is still a long way off, but the award of the tender means work will begin and the northern interior of the state will see a flurry of activity and development. The greatest test for the airport was viability. This became an issue because one of the conditions was that the
Dabolim airport would remain operational after the new one is built. However, with three firms coming forward, it means the companies foresee a revenue stream which will eventually
make the airport viable. The bigger challenge that stares in the
face of the government is construction of necessary road infrastructure
to create a corridor from north to south to facilitate
easy and problem-free travel for tourists and locals. Although
a Rs 10,000 crore plan was unveiled by the government to widen
NH17, there has been no movement in that direction. With
Mopa out of the way the only blips on the government radar
are the Tuem and IT parks which are yet to take off.
