Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday took the dispute over location of the proposed Navi Mumbai airport in his hand, assuring a Congress delegation from Maharashtra to settle the matter at the earliest.

The delegation led by chief minister Ashok Chavan called upon him to complain about Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh putting hurdles in the project on the environment grounds.

Chavan, however, did not attack Ramesh while addressing a press conference later. Pointing out his three meetings with Ramesh, he said the state government was ready to take every step he wants to protect environment while building the airport.

"I will personally look into the matter. Mumbai is of paramount importance to the country. I appreciate that a new airport is a necessity. Nothing will come in the way of Mumbai's development," Chavan quotd Singh as telling the delegation.

Chavan said the delegation pointed out to the PM the utmost urgency for the Mumbai metropolis to have another airport as the present one is totally saturated leading to many foreign airlines not booking flights for Mumbai. He said the delegation stressed that restructuring or expansion of the present airport will not solve the problem.

He said Manmohan Singh was already aware of the issue as he had asked Ramesh and civil aviation minister Praful Patel to sit together and sort out the issues.

The delegation comprised revenue minister Narayan Rane, environment minister Patangrao Kadam, Maharashtra PCC president Manikrao Thakre, Mumbai PCC chief Kripa Shankar Singh and State PCC spokesman Kanhaiyalal Gidwani.