The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Tourism Ministry’s proposal to acquire an additional 288 bighas of land for the expansion of Gautam Buddha Regional International Airport in Bhairahawa.

In its proposal, the ministry has stated Rs9.74 billion is required to acquire the land.

Tourism Secretary Prem Rai said the government will soon initiate the process of conducting a survey for the land acquisition. “The plan to acquire the additional land is aimed at avoiding any possible congestion at the international airport in future. The airport will also require a larger space for a radar station, security base and runway,” he said.

This is the second land acquisition proposal approved by the Cabinet for the airport project in the last three months. On January 13, the Cabinet had allowed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) to acquire 140 bighas, and the government had set aside Rs2.49 billion for compensation payments to land owners.

The Caan said it has begun distributing compensation to locals whose land plots were acquired in the first phase. 

With this latest scheme, the domestic airport will be transformed into a regional international airport spread over 715 bighas by 2017. The planned airport will have a 3,000-metre runway and a capacity to serve 760,000 passengers annually after the completion of the first phase of upgradation.

According to the Caan officials, the additional land acquisition was proposed after a new master plan showed the airport would require a larger space for a radar station and security bases. The master plan was endorsed by the Caan’s board recently. The previous master plan prepared in 2006 had suggested the runway be equipped with VHF Omni-Directional Range and Distance Measuring Equipment (VOR-DME), a radio navigation system.

However, the new plan has recommended installing a Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) station, an advanced surveillance radar which would require bigger space. The plan also has suggested expanding the security, cargo and approach areas.

As per the Caan’s proposal, the land will cost from Rs1 million to Rs4 million per kattha. The government needs to relocate 450 settlements from the proposed area. Of the $90.6 million project cost excluding land, the civil works component is valued at Rs6.30 billion.

The Asian Development Bank has provided $58.50 million ($42.75 in loans and $15.75 million in grants), the Opec Fund for International Development will give a $15 million loan and Caan will bear the rest of the cost as counterpart funding.