NEW DELHI. Out of the 21 greenfield airports to be set up in the country, 11 have already been operationalised.
Government of India has formulated a Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008 which provides detailed guidelines, procedures and steps related to construction of Greenfield airports across the country. Under the GFA Policy, the project proponent – an airport developer or the respective State Government willing to establish a Greenfield airport – is required to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation(MoCA) for approval.
Under the GFA policy, the Centre has accorded “in-principle” approval for setting up of 21 greenfield airports in the country, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Gen (Retd) V K Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
These 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 Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.
The 11 operationalised greenfield airports, the Minister added, are in Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal, Sindhudurg, Kushinagar, Itanagar, Mopa, and Shivamogga.
The Union Government has also granted the first stage clearance (site clearance) for construction of three greenfield airports, namely Alwar in Rajasthan, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, added Gen Singh.
Greenfield airportsare ones which are built from scratch on a new (undeveloped) site, and are expected to play a major role in improving connectivity and contribute to the growth of trade and tourism in the region. There are no constraints from any previous work on the ground. The classification takes into account specific environmental characteristics as well as planning, commissioning, and construction processes.
