AAI has planned capex of Rs 25,000 cr for airport expansion in next 4-5 yrs

AAI has planned capex of Rs 25,000 cr for airport expansion in next 4-5 yrs

PW Bureau

The development and expansion of infrastructure in tier II and III cities is in line with the government's plan to give a boost to regional connectivity through UDAN scheme

New Delhi: In a response filed in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has planned capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 25,000 crores, under which development, modernisation and upgradation of terminal buildings of 17 AAI airports will be undertaken over a period of 4-5 years. The minister said that the also includes increasing the capacity of Delhi airport by way expansion and upgradation of Terminal 1 and the private airport operators have sought the requisite permission to go ahead with the plan.

Which airports will be upgraded?

The list of 17 airports that will be upgraded/modernized in the next 4-5 years includes, Calicut in Kerala, Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Agartala in Tripura, Guwahati in Assam, Tiruchirapalli and Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Agra and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Leh and Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir, Kolhapur and Pune in Maharashtra, Patna in Bihar, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh.

Other plans on the anvil

The minister informed the House that AAI has already commenced work on the extension of Jammu airport runway to 1,300 feet and is also building An ATC tower-cum-technical block at Raja Bhoj airport in Bhopal and Jabalpur airport.

Development of 15 parking bays, parallel taxi track and new domestic terminal building at Indore airport is also underway, Sinha said.

The development and expansion of infrastructure in tier II and III cities is in line with the government's plan to give a boost to regional connectivity through UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme.

Commenting on the schedule of the completion of the planned expansion, Sinha said that the timeline will depend upon the land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure etc. by the individual developer.

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