New Delhi - After pleas for an early clearance to the long-pending Navi Mumbai airport project, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said he would personally look into the issue to resolve the matter at the earliest.

The assurance was given by the Prime Minister to a Maharashtra Congress delegation led by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and comprising a number of senior leaders including Revenue Minister Narayan Rane.

"I will personally look into 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", Singh told the delegation, according to Chavan.

The Chief Minister told reporters that the delegation impressed upon the Prime Minister that expeditious development of another airport for Mumbai was the need of the hour as restructuring and maximum expansion of the present airport would not be enough.