Establishment of Greenfield Airports in the Country

Keeping in view the enormous growth in air passengers and to encourage infusion of greater investment in airport sector, Government had pronounced a policy for Greenfield airports in April, 2008. As per this Policy, the promoter, including the State Government, seeking to develop the airport has to submit the proposal to the Government for consideration by the Steering Committee. Application for setting up of Greenfield airports are considered by the Steering Committee/competent authority for grant of ‘in principle’ approval, after they have completed all necessary formalities of obtaining pre-feasibility study report, site clearance, clearances from regulatory agencies, etc. So far Government of India has granted ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up of Greenfield airports at Mopa in Goa; Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra; Shimoga, Gulbarga, Hassan and Bijapur in Karnataka; Kannur in Kerala; Durgapur in West Bengal; Datia/Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh; Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh; Karaikal in Puducherry and Pakyong in Sikkim. Necessary action for project development, including acquisition of land, financing of the airport project, etc. is taken by the respective airport promoters. The timeline for construction of airport projects depends upon many factors such as land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure, etc. by the individual operators. This information was given by the Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today