tourism in india 2013

8/12/2019 tourism in india 2013

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Project Consultants:

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT KUSHINAGAR,UTTAR PRADESH ON A PPP FORMAT

Project Information Memorandum

IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited2nd Floor, Ambiance Corporate Tower, Ambiance Mall,

Ambiance Island, National Highway 8, Gurgaon, Haryana 122 001www.iidcindia.co.in


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Executive Summary

A. IntroductionUttar Pradesh has the largest number of tourist destinations that are religious, cultural,historical and full of natural beauty the state attracts a large number of tourists. It ranks

number one in the country in Domestic tourism and ranks fourth in foreign tourist arrivals.

% Share of Uttar Pradesh in All India Tourists Visits 2011

Tourist Arrival India Uttar Pradesh % share UP rank

International 6.2 million 29% of the country 4thrank

Domestic 748 million 21% of the country 1strank

Source: Ministry of Tourism, GoI

For the Buddhists all over the world, four places are of great religious significance.

Lumbini/Kapilwastu the place where Lord Buddha was born, Bodh Gaya the place where he attained enlightenment, Sarnath- the place where he preached his first sermon, Kushinagar- the place where he spend maximum period of his life and attained

Maharparinivana etc.

All these places, associated with

life and teachings of Lord Buddha,

together as a group, are referredto by the tour operators, as

Buddhist circuit. The tours to

these locations are marketed as a

package not only in India but for

Buddhist tourists from Japan,

China, S. Korea, Taiwan,

Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand,

Kampuchea (erstwhile Cambodia),

Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal,

Singapore etc.

Uttar Pradesh is also home to

some of the most renowned and

revered Buddhist sites in India.

These sites are visited by tourists

every year from all across the world.


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These key Buddhist destinations that form the Buddhist Circuit in Uttar Pradesh and their

reason of importance include:

Kushinagar - place where Lord Buddha passed away and attained Mahaparinirvana;

Sravasti - Lord Buddha spent 27 rainy seasons here;

Kapilvastu - believed to be the place where Lord Buddha spent his childhood;

Sarnath - the Site where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon;

Kaushambi - a pillar from the Ashoka era exists here;

Sankisa - believed to be the place Lord Buddha revisited after his death

The locus of the Buddhist Circuit in Uttar Pradesh and those in Nepal is Kushinagar and it acts

as a natural hub to any Buddhist visiting the various places in the circuit. However, the present

connectivity to Kushinagar is severely limited as there are no direct flights for the foreigntourists. To add upon the current road connectivity from Bodhgaya to Sarnath and further

leading to Kushinagar is very tiring for the tourists visiting this Buddhist circuit.

The nearest airstrip at Gorakhpur, located 51 Kms. Away from Kushinagar is an Indian Air Force

base with a Civil Enclave and offers very limited air connectivity. It can be said that the poor

accessibility to Kushinagar has been a deterrent for the foreign visitors, who intend to take this

pilgrimage. There is a vast opportunity in creating direct air connectivity to Kushinagar and thus

unlocking the full tourism potential of the place. Distances between the Buddhist sites, is as

below:

Kushinagar Gorakhpur 56Gorakhpur Varanasi 210

Varanasi Bodhgaya 275Gorakhpur Lumbini 125Lumbini - India Border 25Vaishali - Kushinagar 280Balrampur - Sravasti 15Kapilvastu - Balrampur 130

Varanasi - Sarnath 12


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B. The ProjectGovernment of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP) has recognized this need for better accessibility to

Kushinagar and has proposed the development of an International Airport at Kushinagar. The

Airport is proposed to developed with Public Private Partnership in Design- Build- Finance-

Operate Transfer mode.

With this aim, GoUP selected IL&FS Infrastructure Development Company Limited as

project consultant to undertake feasibility study, project marketing, bid process management,

developer selection and project implementation monitoring. IL&FS IDC has further appointedtwo subject matter experts for this project:

a) M/s India Aviation Consulting & Support are the Aviation consultants for preparationof Technical Feasibility Report and Master Plan for the proposed Airport;

b) M/s SENES India Pvt. Ltd are the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) expertsresponsible for facilitating IL&FS IDC undertaking EIA studies and EIA clearance.

C. Location of ProjectThe Project is located in a very heavily populated region, in the catchment of Uttar Pradesh,

Bihar and Nepal. There is no International Airport in its 150 kms radius. The Gorakhpur airportlocated 50 kms from the project site has a civilian enclave with a arrival/ dept capacity of

meager 16 people.


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Districts in 100 km radius of Kushinagar:

Uttar Pradesh Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajgunj, Azamgarh, Mau

Bihar Siwan, Gopalkunj, Champaran, Saran & Nepal

National Highway 28 bisects the Kushinagar town. The Mahaparinirwan Temple at Kushinagar

and the selected site for Maitreya project lay on the southern side of the NH 28. However, the

Airport is 4 km north to the temple.


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D. Potential Traffic for the airport

Buddhist Tourists:Buddhism constitutes almost 6% of the world population and is the fourth

largest religion of the world. There are more than 48 crore Buddhist population in the top 20

Buddhist populated countries including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Hong

Kong, Mongolia etc. Accessibility is the main blockage in these pilgrims, wanting to visit

Kushinagar and adjacent Buddhist sites like Lumbini, Sravasti, Kapilwastu etc.

Middle East Traffic:One important understanding emerged for the opinion survey conducted

in the region is that there is sizeable Middle-East Traffic from Eastern Uttar Pradesh region.

Results of primary survey conducted by the consultants indicate that more than 1,50,000

contract workers from the Eastern UP region around Kushinagar and the adjacent region of

Bihar fly to the Middle East countries annually. Since there is no direct air connectivity from the

region, this entire group travels to adjoining airports like Lucknow and Delhi, in certain cases

from Mumbai. This group would greatly benefit from the establishment of an international

airport at Kushinagar, as well as contribute to the passenger traffic. Moreover, this traffic is

likely to be in summer season, which is a lean period from the International tourist perspective,

thus counter balancing the potential traffic flow at the Kushinagar Airport.

Domestic Tourists: The project also has a domestic traffic potential due to its proximity to

Gorakhpur and its adjacent urban areas. It is most likely that the Domestic traffic would also be

adding up in the traffic forecast numbers, considering the potential of regional air connectivity

between the Buddhist tourist sites and the aviation requirement of Gorakhpur town in

Particular.

Maitreya Project: The project could also be positively impacted by the proposed Maitreya

project in the close vicinity. The project proposes a Worlds Tallest Bronze statue with a Heightof 154 meters along with world class hospital, university and allied facilities. The Earmarked site

is about 4 kms from the International Airport site (More information can be availed on

www.maitreyaproject.org). The State Government has put serious efforts to put the project on

the fast track with a continuous dialogue between the Maitreya trust and the local stakeholders.

With a mutual consent of the about 1300 farmers, the State has been successful in acquiring

70% of the land (total project area about 250 acres), as on date. However, it is noteworthy that

the traffic projection for the Airport project doesnot takes into account the possible air traffic,

likely to be generated due to the Maitreya project. The Maitreya project would be

complementary and a bonus to the International Airport.
http://www.maitreyaproject.org/http://www.maitreyaproject.org/http://www.maitreyaproject.org/


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E. Other advantages with the airport

Location on the East West Corridor:The proposed site of International Airport at

Kushinagar is situated about 51 Kms. from Gorakhpur aerodrome by road and lies within the

local flying area of IAF airport at Gorakhpur airfield. The air corridor is permitted through the

local flying area at other similarly placed civilian airports in close proximity of Defense airfields

to enable civil flights at the respective civil airfields. It is also important to mention that the

East- West corridor (NH-28) running from Porbandar(Gujarat) to Silchar (Assam) is less than 2

kms from the earmarked site.


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The location of the Proposed International Airport near the East West Corridor gives it a

strategic importance for Cargo potential to the Airport.

Proximity to Nepal:The proximity of the Airport to Nepal is also an added advantage. Nepal

being a land locked country; it gets its cargo from the Kolkata Port. On a survey at the UP-

Sonauli border check post the volume ofexport was found to be substantial,

underlying to the cargo potential this

Airport could serve.

Understanding this potential, the

Government has proposed a road to

establish a direct connectivity from

Kushinagar to the Nepal border. The

Check post on the Nepal border is an

Important point for the entry of

commodities like petroleum, Cement,

Paper, Fruits and vegetables, Clothes,

Medicines worth value of export Rs 1720

crores in 2009-10 (upto Jan 10).

F. Project Structuring

The proposed site for international airport has an existing strip owned by the Govt. of UttarPradesh and is located at Kasia, 5 Kms. North of Kushinagar township. The existing Airstrip is

approx. 2100 meters long and varying in width from 171 meter to 200 Meter. The orientation ofthe existing Runway strip is 11/29 of 1740 m in length and about 27.5 m wide and a smallapron of 145 m x 46 m.


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The coordinates of the site, as determined by the GPS instruments with a good accuracy, areLatitude 2646' 30.5" N, Longitude 8353'37.4" E on the eastern end of the runway and the

elevation of the site is 80 m AMSL.

The land all around the proposed airport is agricultural and is almost a level ground, with aslight natural slope for rain water flowing to a nearby drain. There is habitation on both sides ofthe existing boundary of the airstrip towards North and South. The basic premise of theplanning for international airport development was decided that these villages on both sides areleft un-disturbed in full.

It is proposed to develop the proposed International airport capable of handling wide body longdistance aircraft like A -300, A 310/ 330 for unrestricted operation enabling non stop flightsfrom Buddhist countries as far as Japan and S. Korea etc. The project also accounts for anoccasional operation of B747/ B767 / B 777 & A 340 or similar type of Code E type of aircraftwith load penalty small load penalty during winter months.

it is estimated that for the base year (i.e. first year of operation of the airport, the passengertraffic at Kushinagar is expected to be about 2.5 Lacs. This includes international passengersfrom Buddhist countries, traffic to Middle East countries and domestic passengers. It ispresumed that the promoter shall venture in to marketing the airport at least a year in advance

by advertisement and promotion activities amongst the tour operators in respective countries asprocess for charter tours, involving booking of aircraft, starts a season in advance.

The existing Airstrip at Kushinagar was located in 97.238 Acres land. The State government ofUttar Pradesh as acquired the land for International Airport project recently. As on date, totalarea of 550Acres has been acquired and is under the possession of the Department ofTourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh for the said project. The state government has spendmore Rs 180 crores in the acquiring the required land. The entire land has been fenced (about19 kilometers in length).


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G. Obstruction Survey for airport

An obstruction survey had been carried out all around the airport (up to 15 Kms. Distance) toassess the presence of obstructions around the site which needs to be removed and also toassess the suitability of the selected site for the proposed airport. The Government of UP has

already completed the process of removal of the identified obstructions for a safe operation ofthe aircraft and this has been done without disturbing any residents.

H. In-Principal Approval of MoCA to the project

The site inspection was carried out by officers from Airports Authority of India and DirectorGeneral of Civil Aviation and an aerial survey was also organized for the visiting executives.During the site inspection, all the operational aspects like the obstructions (all of these can beeasily removed) and the airspace and procedures of sharing the same with the Indian Air Force(can be worked out as is prevalent at other similarly located civil aerodromes) were considered.The DGCA and AAI representatives have reconfirmed our assessment in their tour reportsubmitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation that the site is suitable for development of aninternational airport.

As the proposed project is located within the Restricted Air Space of the IAF (Air Space underthe jurisdiction of Ministry of Defense) an application was filed for clearance of the Ministry ofDefense as per requirements. Formal clearances was also taken from the Ministry of Home

Affairs ( Immigration, Security, location clearance of the airport site, plant quarantine andanimal quarantine) , Ministry of Defense ( air space), DGCA ( operational clearance), Airports

Authority of India (airspace & air traffic management), Ministry of Finance ( Customs), Ministryof Health (Health checks on passengers when involved). Subsequently, the project was alsobeen accorded In- Principle approval by the Steering Committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The summary table of the clearances accorded to the project is hereunder.

Sno Action taken Completion Date

1 Project sanctioned by State Government of Uttar Pradesh 15thJan 2010

2 Clearance from the Ministry of Defence, GoI. 3rdMarch 2010

3 Clearance from the Department of Customs, GoI 8thMarch 2010

4 Site Clearance by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, GoI 16thMarch 2010

5 No Objection by the Department of Metrology, GoI 31stMarch 2010

6 No Objection Certificate by the U.P. Pollution Control Board 01stApril 2010

7 EIA Clearance from the Ministry of Environment & Forest 14thMay 2010

8In Principle Approval from the Steering Committee of MoCA.Including consent of AAI, DGCA, Min of Finance, Min of HomeAffairs, Min of Environment & Forest, Planning Commission.

21stSept 2010


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I. Viability Gap FundingThe proposed project of International Airport at Kushinagar is the first Airport project in thecountry to be granted a Viability Gap Funding by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministryof Finance, Government of India.

The Project and its entire documents were critically evaluated and approved by- Planning Commission of India Department of Economic Affairs Department of Expenditure Ministry of Civil Aviation

In the 43rdmeeting of the Empowered Institution for the Scheme for Financial Support to PublicPrivate Partnerships in Infrastructure, the central government gave an in-principle approval fora VGF of Rs 70.93 crores (20% of the project cost). The State Government of Uttar Pradeshhad already expressed an additional support up to 20% of project cost. Therefore, the Totalpermissible VGF in this project would be Rs 140 crores i.e approx. Rs 140 crores.

J. Proposed InvestmentThe preliminary estimated total cost for developing the minimum specification of the proposedinternational airport development works out to Rs. 354 crores. The land for the developmentof the international airport at Kushinagar will be given to the selected project developer for a50 years(30 year + 20 year) concession period.

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