L&T said to win contract to build KIA's 2nd terminal

Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) has reportedly clinched the deal to build the first phase of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA)'s second terminal.

Airport sources confirmed the deal but indicated that the company will be coming out with the details soon. L&T had built the airport's first runway and also bagged the contract to construct the KIA's second runway.

The first phase of the airport's second terminal is scheduled to be completed by March 2021. Once this phase is operationalised, the airport's combined capacity is expected to exceed 45 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA). The airport had crossed the 25 MPPA mark in 2017.

Besides L&T, three Indian companies and a Turkish firm were in competition for the contract. Sources said the total cost of the first phase was pegged at Rs 3,000 crore, although this could not be immediately verified.

Since its commercial launch in 2008, the Bengaluru airport has emerged as India's third busiest, after Mumbai and Delhi. In April, the KIA operator, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), had announced that it served 26.91 MPPA in the financial year 2017-18. A total of 44 airlines link the KIA to 46 domestic and 21 international destinations.

The Airports Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) had directed the BIAL to complete the second terminal's first phase by March 2021. It had also warned that a penalty would be levied if the deadline is exceeded.

Aviation experts had noted that the deadline could be challenging since the new terminal would have to be seamlessly integrated with the second runway, and all landing/take-off trials should be completed before commissioning T2.