Nine Out Of 21 Approved Greenfield Airports Operationalised, Two More Expected by 2023

A total of nine Greenfield airports have been operationalised in the country, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Parliament today (8 December).

Replying to a query in the Lok Sabha, the Minister said that the central government has accorded 'in-principle' approval for setting up of 21 greenfield airports across the country, and nine of them have been operationalised so far.

The 21 new greenfield airports include:

• Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra,

Out of these, nine greenfield airports viz. Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal, Sindhudurg, Kushinagar and Donyi Polo have been operationalised.

Donyi Polo airport is the latest and only greenfield airport to be operationalised in 2022.  The first Greenfield Airport of Arunachal Pradesh has been inaugurated on 19 November 2022 and has been operational since 28 November 2022.

The project cost of these nine airports include Rs 670 crore for Durgapur, Rs 320 crore for Shirdi, Rs. 553.53 crore for Pakyong, Rs 2,342 crore for Kannur, Rs 175.57 crore for Kalaburagi, Rs 187 crore for Orvakal, Rs 520 crore for Sindhudurg, Rs 448 crore for Kushinagar and Rs 646 crore for Donyi Polo.

In-Pipeline

The New Goa International Airport at Mopa in Goa is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 December 2022 with commercial operations starting in early 2023.

Similarly, the Noida International Airport (NIA) at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh will be completed and made operational by September 2024.

In Gujarat, the state government is developing two greenfield airports at Hirasar (Rajkot) and Dholera (Ahmedabad).

It has collaborated with Airports Authority of India (AAI) for development of the Hirasar airport at a project cost of Rs 1,405 crore. It is expected that the new airport will be ready for operation by March 2023.

As regards development of Dholera Greenfield Airport at a project cost of Rs 1,305 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.

The airport, situated at an aerial distance of 80 km from Ahmedabad airport, central government has also granted the first stage clearance (i.e., site clearance) for construction of three greenfield airports namely Alwar in Rajasthan, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

During the last three years, only Mandi Greenfield airport project has been granted 'Site Clearance' in 2022.

Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008

In India, an airport can be developed and operated either by AAI or by an airport company that has been given a license. The Rules also allow the central government or a state government to obtain a license.

The centre has formulated the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, which prescribes procedure and conditions for development of a new greenfield airport in the country.

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 a two-stage approval, that is, 'Site-Clearance' followed by 'In-Principle' approval.

The responsibility of implementation of airport projects including funding of the project rests with the concerned airport developer including the respective state government (in case the state government is the project proponent).