The government of India is planning to begin 100 airport projects by the end of next year, according to the country’s civil aviation minister.
The Business Standard website reports that VK Singh announced the plan in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament. He said the government would develop the facilities as part of its Regional Connectivity Scheme.
The minister commented: “Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other airport operators have targeted a capital outlay of approximately ₹98,000 crore [$13bn] in the airport sector across India by 2025 for the construction of greenfield airports and terminals, the expansion and modernisation of existing terminals and the strengthening of runways, among other activities.
“Out of this, more than ₹25,000 crore [$3bn] capital expenditure is being incurred by AAI and the remaining by private airport operators and developers.”
The greenfield airports that will be completed in the next five years include Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, and Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh.
Modernisation and upgrades are planned for airports in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Mangaluru.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman added in her budget speech that provision had been made for 50 new airports, heliports, water aerodromes and “advance landing grounds”.
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