The government has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 new greenfield airports across the country
The government has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of 21 new greenfield (fresh) airports across the country. Out of these, Navi Mumbai, Vijayapura, Hassan, Noida (Jewar), Hirasar and Dholera airports are likely to be completed in the next three years, said Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Thursday.
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“Out of these (21 greenfield airports), 11 greenfield airports including six airports — Orvakal (Kurnool) in 2021, Sindhudurg in 2021, Kushinagar in 2021, Itanagar in 2022, Mopa in 2023 and Shivamogga in 2023 — have been operationalised in past three years,” said Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The 21 airports are 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 Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh across the country.
Out of the remaining greenfield airports where ‘in-principle’ approval has been granted by this ministry, the probable dates of completion of airports at Navi Mumbai, Vijayapura, Hassan, Noida (Jewar), Hirasar and Dholera are due in next three years.
However, the timelines for construction of airports depends upon various factors such as land acquisition, mandatory clearances, removal of obstacles, financial closure, etc., by the respective airport developers.
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Airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have multiplier effect on the economy of the state. The linkage between the civil aviation sector and economic growth is well recognised. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) study shows that the air connectivity has an economic multiplier of 3.1 and employment multiplier of 6.1.
Under UDAN, 469 routes connecting 74 unserved and underserved airports including 9 Heliports & 2 Water aerodromes have been operationalised as on February 28, 2023.
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Promoting affordability of regional air connectivity is envisioned under UDAN by supporting Selected Airline Operators (SAOs) through concessions by Central Government, State Governments/UTs and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes and providing financial (viability gap funding or VGF) support to meet the gap, if any, between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such UDAN routes.
