Question : Setting up of New Airports

(a) whether the number of air passengers are increasing every year;

(b) if so, the number of passengers handled by aviation sector across the country during the last three years, State/UT-wise including Tamil Nadu;

(c) whether the Union Government is planning to set up some new airports in the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and

(d) whether the Union Government has received any proposal from the Government of Tamil Nadu in this regard and if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon?

The Minister of State (IC) in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION
(Shri Hardeep Singh Puri)

(a) & (b): Yes Sir. The details of passengers during the last three years is given in Annexure-I.
;

(c): Government of India has granted ''in principle'' approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country namely Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Hassan and Shimoga in Karnataka, Kannur in Kerala, Durgapur in West Bengal, Datia in Gwalior, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kushinagar and Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry and Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Oravakal in Andhra Pradesh and Hollongi, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. Greenfield Airports at Shirdi, Kannur, Durgapur and Pakyong have been operationalized. Besides, Government of India has granted ''site clearance'' approval for setting up of 6 Greenfield Airports across the country namely Machiwara in Ludhiana, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, Alwar (Bhiwadi) in Rajasthan, Kothagudem, Dist. Khammam in Telangana, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and Purandar in Pune.;
;

(d): An airport company namely, Ms. Taking off to the Future Pvt. Ltd. (TOFL) (previously, M/s KGS Developers Pvt. Ltd) had submitted an application for construction of airport at Chengelpet near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. However, the Ministry of Defence denied the site clearance for setting up of a Greenfield airport in Chengelpet citing the same would impose severe restrictions on the conduct of Indian Air Force (IAF) flying operations. The company has approached Government of India for reconsideration of the project.