Winter Session of Parliament: Govt says nine of 21 approved greenfield airports operationalised
The government has also granted 'In-Principle' approval to the State Government of Gujarat for the development of two Greenfield Airports at Hirasar (Rajkot) and Dholera (Ahmedabad).
PremiumThe Ministry of Civil Aviation accorded 'in-principal' approval for the setting up of 21 greenfield airports of which 9 have been operationalised, Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh (Retd) on 8 December.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Singh said these airports include 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 Oravakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh; Durgapur in West Bengal; Pakyong in Sikkim; Kannur in Kerala and Donyi Polo; Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.
Of these, the nine airports that have already been operationalised are - Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar and Donyi Polo, Itanagar .
In November, Donyi Polo airport was inaugurated, making it the latest to be operationalised. The airport is spread over an area of over 690 acres, and built at a cost of more than ₹640 crores and will be able to function around the year as it is suitable for all weather day operations.
The government has also granted 'In-Principle' approval to the State Government of Gujarat for the development of two Greenfield Airports at Hirasar (Rajkot) and Dholera (Ahmedabad).
The State Government has collaborated with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the development of the Hirasar airport at a project cost of ₹1405 crore.
As regards the development of Dholera Greenfield Airport at a project cost of ₹1305 crore, a Joint Venture Company comprising AAI, Government of Gujarat (GoG) and National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) holding equity in the ratio of 51:33:16 respectively has been formed to oversee its implementation.
Development of a Greenfield airport is governed under the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008.
As per the Policy, a State Government or an Airport Developer, willing to establish an airport, is required to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for 2-stage approval i.e. 'Site-Clearance' followed by 'In-Principle' approval. Such proposals are considered by MoCA as per the procedure stipulated in the GFA Policy.
The responsibility of the implementation of airport projects including funding of the projects rests with the concerned airport developer including the respective State Government (in case the State Government is the project proponent).
(With inputs from ANI)
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