TEAM HERALD
NEW DELHI: The Government has identified 50 small towns for developing the low-cost airports in the country to promote regional and remote area air connectivity, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati disclosed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Pusapati also disclosed that the government has granted in principle approval for setting up 15 greenfield airports across the country, which include Mopa Airport in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg airports in Maharashtra, Dabra Airport in Gwalior (MP), and Bijapur, Gulbarga, Hassan and Shimoga airports in Karnataka.
In a written reply to Kirti Azad (BJP), he said these locations have been selected on the basis of the population, economic growth, tourism potential and lack of air connectivity at these places.
Towns where the low-cost airports are to be developed include Akola, Amravati, Jalgaon, Kolhapur and Sholapur (greenfield) in Maharashtra, Bikaner, Kishangarh and Kota in Rajasthan, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, Kandla, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Keshod in Gujarat, Belgaum and Hubli in Karnataka, Daman and Diu.
The minister, however, did not give any timeline for development of the airports, pointing out that it is a continuous process and undertaken by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), depending on traffic demand, commercial viability, socio-economic considerations, availability of land, etc.
The greenfield airports are to be developed by the respective airport promoter, progress of these airports is monitored by the Steering Committee set up under the Greenfield Airport Policy of 2008. Timeline for their construction also depends on factors like land acquisition, financing and availability of mandatory clearances.
