The Centre is considering giving clearance for the construction of three greenfield airports at different locations across the country, sources told businessline.
The three airports in the fray are located at Parandur, Tamil Nadu; Kota, Rajasthan; and Puri, Odisha.
These three airports, sources said, have reached the second stage of the Centre’s Greenfield Airports (GFA) policy for getting ‘in-principle’ approval to start the land acquisition for construction and other activities.
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), along with other agencies such as IMD, as well as associated ministries such as Home and Defence, are deliberating on granting ‘In-Principle’ approval to the projects,” sources said.
“The greenfield airport projects are the cornerstone to enhance connectivity and spur economic activity. We are hopeful that ‘in-principle’ approval for these projects will be granted soon.”
- Read more:Site clearance for Parandur airport was given only after steering committee’s approval
The Parandur-based airport in Tamil Nadu is expected to become the second such infrastructure facility for Chennai city, while Puri will cater not just to the pilgrimage town, but also to Bhubaneswar city.
“The greenfield airport at Kota in Rajasthan will replace the existing airport there,” sources said.
2-stage approval process for greenfield airports
In the last couple of years, MoCA has given ‘site clearance’ to seven airports proposed to be built at Mandi, Himachal Pradesh; Kottayam, Kerala; Puri, Odisha; Doloo, Assam; Parandur, Tamil Nadu; Kota, Rajasthan; and Raichur, Karnataka.
Notably, GFA prescribes a two-stage approval process that includes ‘site clearance’ followed by ‘in-principle’ nod.
At present, state governments propose locations for constructing greenfield airports, which are then inspected by various government bodies, including the Airport Authority of India (AAI), to determine the technical feasibility of the project.
Implementation of airport projects, including funding, rests with the concerned airport developer, including the state government.
The second stage involves project evaluation upon considering the detailed project report (DPR), including a techno-economic feasibility study of the project.
Under GFA, the Centre has till now given ‘in-principle’ approval for the setting up of 21 greenfield airports in Mopa in Goa; Navi Mumbai, Shirdi, and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra; Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan, and Shivamogga in Karnataka; Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh; Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh; Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat; Karaikal in Puducherry; Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram, and Orvakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh; Durgapur in West Bengal; Pakyong in Sikkim; Kannur in Kerala; and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.
Of these, 12 greenfield airports, including Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar, Itanagar, Mopa, and Shivamogga, have been operationalised.
Currently, India has 159 operational airports, including both brownfield and greenfield facilities.