Construction
The original proposal for the airport outlined an estimated cost of 100 crore (US$18.2 million) and an expected date of commission in 1997. Approval was granted in May 1993. The funding was envisaged to be from interest-free loans from non-resident Indians working abroad, donations from industrial undertakings, exporters, cooperative societies and loans from the state government. A body called the Cochin International Airport Society, under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Kerala, was registered in July 1993 to execute the project. For the purposes of better fund mobilisation, as well as administrative convenience, a public limited company under the name Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL) was registered in March 1994 with an authorised capital of 90 crore (US$16.38 million)
A total of 4,200 acres (17,000,000 m2) acres of land was acquired for the construction of the airport. Approximately 2,300 land owners and 872 families were resettled under a rehabilitation package. Major electric lines and an irrigation canal had to be diverted for the construction.
The facility was formally inaugurated by the President of India on May 25, 1999, and the first commercial service began on June 10, 1999. The operations from the old naval airport were moved to CIAL on July 1, 1999.
Read more about this topic: Cochin International Airport
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