Airport for Udupi district may be considered if the State govt. proposes it: Civil Aviation Ministry

The Civil Aviation Ministry has said it will consider sanctioning a Greenfield airport in Udupi district if the State government sends a proposal in accordance with the Greenfield Airport Policy, 2008.

Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu informed this to Kota Srinivas Poojary, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, recently in response to the latter’s October 14, letter. He said, “I would like to inform you that the Government of India has formulated the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, which provides guidelines, procedures and conditions for the establishment of new Greenfield Airports in the country.”

“As per the policy, if any airport developer, including the State Government, desires to develop an airport, they are required to identify a suitable site and get the Pre-feasibility Study conducted for the construction of the airport and submit a proposal to the Central Government for ‘Site Clearance’ followed by ‘In-Principle’ approval.”

Mr. Kinjarapu said the Ministry has not received any proposal for the construction of such an airport at Nandikoor, Udupi district. “Whenever a proposal for establishing a Greenfield airport is received from an airport developer or the relevant State government, it will be considered in accordance with the Policy,” he said.

Responding to this, Mr. Poojary said he would take up the issue with the Karnataka government.

The MP had written to Mr. Kinjarapu in October regarding the possibility of establishing an International Sub-Airport at Nandikoor in Kapu Taluk, Udupi district, as suggested by Gurme Suresh Shetty, a local MLA. Out of the land allotted to Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) for its Thermal Power Plant, around 900 acres of additional land was expected to be surrendered to the government. The surplus land could be effectively utilised for the construction of an International Sub-Airport, he wrote.

Mr. Poojary said currently, people from Udupi, Kundapura, Karkala and Byndoor regions depend on Mangaluru International Airport, which is around 60 to 100 km away and often remains heavily crowded. Establishing an airport at Nandikoor would greatly benefit residents from these taluks by reducing travel time.