The international airport project at Chakan in Pune has received all necessary clearances, with the final approval coming last Thursday.

This puts the Pune airport project on the fast track to completion, even as two similar projects at Nagpur and New Mumbai have thus far been able to only secure two and one central clearances, respectively.

With all approvals in place, global bids may be invited over the next six months with a 48-month schedule thereafter for the completion of the project, provided no political impediments stall the execution of the project.

"The environmental site clearance for the Chakan site was received in the middle of last week. The six other Union government clearances, needed for the project, are already in place and were acquired over the last two years. The airport will function as an international cargo hub, while also catering to domestic passenger traffic," a Union environment department official said.

Welcoming the decision, the chairperson of the civil aviation and railway transport sub-committee of the Maratha Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Surendrakumar Jain said: "I am perturbed by the differing statements emanating from different political quarters. While Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said one thing, Suresh Kalmadi (Congress) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar have said something else."

He added that Pune's population was expected to increase from 5.5 million to over 10 million in the coming years and the existing airport facility would be hard pressed to meet the demand of the future.

His colleague in the MCCI and the chambers chairperson in the foreign trade committee Ajay Mehta was more lenient in his assessment of the political backing for the project.

"The most important thing is that every political party, be it the Congress, NCP, the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Shiv Sena, is committed to the airport project," Mehta said.

He added that simple statistics on the huge cargo exported out of Pune alone (that currently travels to Mumbai airport first before it is flown out of the country) would clearly make out a case for Pune's new airport.

"We have received positive feedback from international cargo carriers like Srilankan Airlines, Lufthansa, Delta and Singapore Airlines on the international cargo hub proposed in Pune. The Chakan facility will also be a major employment generator for the local populace," Jain said.