Kolkata, Nov 16 (IANS): With the tender floating process now complete and the bids submitted to be examined from next week, the work for the expansion of the Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri in Darjeeling district is expected to begin after the Christmas festival next month.

Raju Bista, the BJP MP from Darjeeling who's also the chairman of the advisory committee for the Bagdogra Airport, told mediapersons on Thursday that the deadline for acceptance of tender bids got over on Wednesday.

“Examination of the bids will start soon and will be completed by the first or second week of December. Thereafter the expansion work will start by the end of the next month and is expected to be completed by 2026,” he said.

It is learnt that the expansion work is necessary as the airport remains over-crowded round the year. While the airport has a capacity to accommodate 5,000 passengers, the daily footfall often touches 20,000.

The process for inviting tenders started after the acquisition of 104 acres of land. The expansion work will involve the construction of a new terminal spanning an area of 1 lakh sq ft at a cost of Rs 950.45 crore. The total project cost has been estimated at Rs 1,884 crore.