BIAL set to spend 13,000 crore on Terminal 2; 2nd runway be operational from October

Here is some good news for people flying in and out of Bengaluru Airport. Kempegowda International Airport is all set to open the second runway on the 1st of October this year.The airport  registered a double digit growth of 28.1 per cent in passenger traffic in the second quarter of FY19. During the three-month period, ending September 30, 2018, 8.13 million passengers travelled through BIAL as against 6.35 million passengers during the corresponding period of previous financial year. The  quarter also saw an increase of 30.5 per cent domestic and 13.8 per cent in international passengers year on year.

Bengaluru International Airport Limited, the company which operates the airport is also set to undertake massive capacity expansion including building of a second terminal at the cost of around 13,000 crores. The revised master plan envisages development of the second terminal in 2 phases. Phase 1 where work has been awarded to Larsen and Toubro, will consist of developing over 2.5 lakh square metre space to handle around 25 million passengers per annum (mppa) and Phase 2 will add an additional capacity serving 20 mppa.

Speaking to Business Today on the expansion plans, Hari Marar, MD &CEO, BIAL said, "There are a nearly 100 projects being undertaken under expansion, mainly consisting of a construction of terminal 2, a new runway connected with its taxiways and development of connectivity including metro".

The second terminal will also see a slew of technologies embedded in most operational aspects. Biometric recognition, smart security implementation with smart lanes with automated tray retrieval by which the expected security time will be cut to less than five minutes for passengers. The expansion will also include upgradation of various connectivity options to the airport. While the existing main access road will be transformed into 10 lanes,  an new 6-lane southern access road is also on the anvil along with a multi-modal transport hub that will come up in T2.

Upon the project completion in March of 2021, the airport could overtake Mumbai to become the second biggest airport. "Over a period of time I do see as a single airport entity, we might be the second biggest in India, because in Mumbai the traffic will be split between 2 different airports, so we should get there in about 5-6 years" he added.

With the estimated cost of the expansion being around Rs 13,000 crores, the company plans to fund it through a mix of debt and equity. Around Rs 2,700 crores will be pumped through internal accruals, the remaining will come in the form of borrowing from banks which are being finalised. The entire capital commitment is likely to be tied-up by the end of this month. Billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax group, the largest share holder (54 per cent) in BIAL has already spent over three and half thousand crores acquiring majority stake, making it Fairfax's biggest investment in India till date .