DIAL said delay by airlines to relocate their back offices, poor state of roof-slab of the terminal causing leakages and construction of temporary offices for all functional offices have also been major challenges in executing the international terminal project. On the domestic terminal upgradation, company officials claimed there has been a delay of eight months in relocation of the Indian Air Force blocks while there has been a four-month delay in relocation of the VIP gate.

The modernisation of Delhi airport, spread over multiple phases and 20 years, is expected to cost Rs 30,000 crore, but has been running into consistent delays. Ahluwalia’s review of the airport earlier this week had caused a verbal spat between him and civil aviation minister Praful Patel. Patel shot off a letter to him, accusing the Planning Commission of meddling in issues relating to civil aviation that have also delayed modernisation programmes of the Kolkata and Chennai airports.

DIAL’s Plan B

•Set up an interim terminal by 2009 that can handle passenger capacity of up to 3 million

•Upgrade Haj terminal – idle for 8 months in a year – and shift some airlines there

•More than double security check channels to 22 from 10 now; more CISF force needed

•Number of immigration counters to be almost doubled from the existing 56 to 100

Year Passenger traffic/ yr

2005-06 16 mn

2006-07 20 mn

2007-08 24 mn

Projected annual increase: 20%