NEW DELHI - Frequent travellers to India are in for quite a shock the next time they fly in to New Delhi`s international airport with its new state-of-the-art terminal.

For years, arrivals at Delhi`s main airport were greeted by the grim sight of dingy walls, dim lighting, congested counters and the smell of overflowing toilets when they went near a washroom.

But now, with the new Terminal 3, a futuristic 2.7-billion-dollar facility in glass-and-steel, the capital finally has a showcase airport that chimes with India`s global aspirations.

The sky-lit terminal, one of the world`s largest, "signals the arrival of a new India, committed to joining the ranks of modern industrialised nations," Premier Manmohan Singh said at the inauguration ceremony on Saturday.

Sprawling over four square kilometres (1.5 square miles), the terminal was completed by an Indian-led consortium in just 37 months -- a huge achievement in a country where major infrastructure projects regularly run years over schedule.

"India has never been recognised as able to build an infrastructure project on time, but we have demonstrated that we are capable of beating anyone else -- and on this massive scale," said Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

"This is a demonstration of what India is truly capable."

The terminal will handle international and domestic travellers and is due to receive its first flight on July 14.

Built to coincide with Delhi`s hosting of the Commonwealth Games in October, the facility boasts over 90 automated walkways and 20,000 square metres of shopping space.

It is a big morale booster for infrastructure project planners, said Kapil Kaul, who heads the Indian and Middle East division of the Center for Asian Pacific Aviation, a consulting firm.

While Delhi`s sleek metro, now in the second phase of expansion, has been one of India`s biggest building success stories, many infrastructure projects get mired in corruption, missed deadlines and ballooning costs.

"It shows what India can do -- it`s a time to celebrate," Kaul said on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony.

"It`s a game-changer -- this success can be achieved across all sectors," he said.

Constructed on nine levels, the terminal will be able to handle 34 million passengers a year -- a capacity urgently needed to cope with surging air traffic in the country of 1.2 billion people.

The government expects an annual 10 percent increase in domestic air passengers to 180 million by 2020, while it says international traffic could top 50 million in another decade.

Improving India`s famously decrepit infrastructure -- crumbling roads, shabby airports, ramshackle railways and ports and erratic power supply -- is critical to accelerating growth, economists say.

The economy is expected to expand by at least 8.5 percent this year.

But infrastructure bottlenecks are seen as the main barrier to propelling growth to the double-digit levels the government says are a pre-requisite for dragging hundreds of millions of Indians out of poverty.

The airport terminal "highlights our country`s resolve to bridge the infrastructure deficiencies in our country," Singh said.

It was built through a public-private partnership headed by south India-based GMR Group -- a financial model seen as the most viable for India to execute large infrastructure projects because it eases the burden on scarce government resources.

Terminal 3 "shows the world that, `Yes, we can`," said GMR chairman G.M. Rao.

BDST: 11:59 HRS, July 4, 2010