Goa : The Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Mopa International Airport, Goa. The foundation stone of the airport was laid by the Prime Minister in November 2016.
Developed at a cost of around Rs 2,870 crores, the airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and comprises a solar power plant, green buildings, LED lights on the runway, rainwater harvesting, state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant with recycling facilities, among other such facilities. Initially, phase I of the Airport will cater to around 4.4 million passengers per annum (MPPA), which can be expanded to a saturation capacity of 33 MPPA.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister congratulated all the citizens of Goa and the country for the inauguration of the greenfield airport in Mopa. Recalling his visits to Goa in the last eight years, the Prime Minister asserted that the love and affection shown by the people of Goa towards him will be repaid with interest in the form of development. “This advanced airport terminal is an attempt to return the favour” he added. He expressed happiness that the Airport is named after the late Manohar Parrikar.
Remarking on the approach towards infrastructural development by the governments in the past, the Prime Minister said that the vote bank had been the first priority instead of the needs and requirements of the citizens. The Prime Minister underlined that thousands of crores were spent on projects that were not even required.
As a result, the places that were in dire need of infrastructural development remained neglected. “Goa International Airport is a clear example of this”, he added. Recalling Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government that had initially planned this airport, the Prime Minister lamented the lack of effort after his government was out of power and the project remained abandoned for many years.
In 2014, the Prime Minister said that once the Double Engine Government came to the scene, work on the airport gained new momentum and he laid the foundation stone 6 years ago despite legal hurdles and the pandemic, this airport is ready to function today. The airport has the facility to handle about 40 lakh passengers per year which can be scaled up to 3.5 crores in future. Apart from tourism benefits, the presence of two airports has created new opportunities for Goa as a cargo hub.
The Prime Minister pointed out that Manohar International Airport is proof of the changed working style and approach to governance. He said before 2014, air travel was an elite affair for well-to-do people. This neglect of the common citizen’s desire for air travel led to low investment in airports and other infrastructure related to air travel and India lagged behind in air travel despite huge potential. The Prime Minister said that in the first 70 years of independence, the number of airports in the country was just 70 and air travel was restricted to big cities.
The Government worked on 2 levels, the Prime Minister continued, First, the Airport network was expanded throughout the country. Second, common citizens got the opportunity for air travel via the UDAN scheme. In the last 8 years, 72 airports have been constructed compared to 70 in the 70 years before that. This means that the number of airports has doubled in the country.
Furthermore, the number of air passengers rose to more than 14 crores in 2020 (just before the pandemic) compared to just 6 crore passengers in the year 2000. More than 1 crore passengers flew under the UDAN scheme. “Because of these measures, India has become the world’s third-largest aviation market”, he said.
The Prime Minister also praised the efforts of the Goa Government for laying equal importance on social infrastructure as much as physical infrastructure. The Prime Minister praised the success of Swyampurna Goa Abhiyan which was the key to promoting ease of living and making sure that no citizen remains deprived of the government schemes. “Today, Goa has become the perfect example of a 100% saturation model”, the Prime Minister concluded as he encouraged everyone to carry forward the development work that is taking place in the state.
Chief Minister of Goa, Dr Pramod Sawant, Governor of Goa, PS Sreedharan Pillai, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotraditya Scindia, and Union Minister of Port, Shipping and Waterways, Shripad Yesso Naik were those present on occasion.