According to the State Minister of Civil Aviation, Gen VK Singh, the establishment of 21 new greenfield airports across the nation has received "In-Principle" approval from the Central government.
In its written response in the lower house, the ministry told on Thursday that these approved airports include Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Kannur in Kerala and Donyi Polo, Pakyong in Sikkim, Durgapur in West Bengal, Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Oravakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and Mopa in Goa.
Nine of these greenfield airports including Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar, and Donyi Polo, Itanagar are currently functional.
The remaining airports are under-construction and an ‘In-principle’ approval has been given to all of these. Post their completion, there will be a huge convenience for those traveling by air, while the total number of airports in the country will reach close to 170, the government said in the Lok Sabha.
As per the Ministry of Civil Aviation, at present there are 153 airports in the country. Of these, 114 airports are domestic and rest are international. The ministry has marked 766 new routes to start cheap air travel for small cities. Out of these, flights have started on 246 routes and more airports are needed for the expansion of this scheme.
Further, the government has provided the state government of Gujarat with an ‘In-Principle’ approval for the construction of Greenfield Airports in Hirasar (Rajkot) and Dholera (Ahmedabad).
With a planned cost of Rs 1405 crore, the state administration has partnered with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop the Hirasar airport.
A joint venture company of AAI, the government of Gujarat, and the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT), holding equity in the ratio of 51:33:16 respectively, has been formed to manage the development of the Dholera Greenfield Airport, with a project cost of Rs 1305 crore.
The Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008 governs the construction of a Greenfield airport.
A state government or airport developer must submit a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for 2-stage clearance, which includes "Site-Clearance" and "In-Principle" permission, in accordance with the Policy, in order to create an airport. Such suggestions are examined by MoCA in accordance with the process outlined in the GFA Policy.
The involved airport developer as well as the relevant state government are responsible for carrying out airport developments, including funding them (in case the state government is the project proponent).
