The Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Jayant Sinha)
(a): Ministry of Civil Aviation has envisaged a scheme for Regional Connectivity in the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016. This scheme is being implemented by way of revival of un-served or under-served airports/routes, concessions by different stakeholders and viability gap funding (VGF). It is planned to revive 50 airstrips/airports at an estimated cost of Rs.4500 crores. However, the development of airports/airstrips is to be undertaken only in those states where the State Govt. agrees to provide requisite concessions and there is a firm commitment from airlines to fly from/to such airports. In addition, several new greenfield airports are also being planned. At present, Government of India has granted "in-principle" approval for setting up of the 18 Greenfield airports in the country. The list of these airports is as under: Mopa in Goa; Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra; Bijapur, Gulbarga, Hasan and Shimoga in Karnataka; Kannur in Kerala; Durgapur in West Bengal; Dabra in Madhya Pradesh; Pakyong in Sikkim; Karaikal in Pudducherry; Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh; Dholera in Gujrat and Dagadarthi Mendal, Nellore Dist., Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram District near Visakhapatnam and Oravakallu in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh. In addition, Government of India has granted "site clearance" for setting up of the 7 Greenfield airports in the country. The list of these airports is as under: Machiwara, Ludhiana Airport; Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh; Jamshedpur in Jharkhand; Alwar in Rajasthan; Kothagudem in Telangana; Hirasar in Rajkot District, Gujarat and Noida International Airport in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh.;
(b): As per the data collected by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), passengers carried by domestic airlines during the calendar year 2016 (January-December) were 998.88 lakhs as against 810.91 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 23.18 percent. As per Annual Review-2017, released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India is ranked 3rd among the top ten increasing Origin-Destination passenger markets in the world during 2016. ;
(c) & (d): Development/upgradation of airports is a continuous process depending on the traffic demand, availability of land & resources, environment clearance, approval from the regulatory authorities, removal of obstructions, etc. Normally, passenger handling capacity is planned considering the future passenger traffic growth and the land availability. Mumbai airport is a land constrained airport and further expansion of the airport is not feasible due to non-availability of the land. Despite such constraint, Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL) has undertaken various Airside and Terminal side improvements through the usage of higher technologies so as to increase per hour aircraft movements and also to reduce the waiting time in the terminal area. Besides, Government of India has granted approval to the State Government of Maharashtra for construction of a new Greenfield international airport at Navi Mumbai as an alternative to the existing Mumbai airport. State Government has already completed the tendering process for engaging the private partner for implementing the Navi Mumbai airport project. Chennai airport has sufficient capacity for handling the present traffic. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken various development/upgradation works at Chennai Airport at a project cost of approx. Rs. 2100 cr. with a view to handle traffic till 2030 with the expanded capacity.
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