In a move that would transform the aviation landscape of the country, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken up the development of new and existing airports with a projected capital expenditure of around Rs 25,000 crores in the next five years.

This expenditure includes constructing new terminals, expanding and modifying existing terminals, expanding and strengthening existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS) infrastructure, control towers, technical blocks, etc.

In addition, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru are undertaking major expansion projects of around Rs 30,000 crores by 2025.

Additionally, Rs 36,000 crores have been planned for investment in developing new greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry Of Civil Aviation, General V K Singh, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Monday (14 March).

It must be noted that the Union government has accorded 'in-principle' approval for setting up 21 Greenfield Airports across the country.

So far, eight Greenfield airports, namely, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka, and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalised.