(a) whether there is any proposal to construct small airports in the district headquarters of various States in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof, the State-wise including Bihar;
(c) the names of districts selected for the said purpose and the current status thereof; and
(d) the time by which the said airports are likely to be constructed?
Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD))
(a) to (d): Government of India has accorded ''in-principle'' approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country namely, Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar (Rajkot) in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dagadarthi (Nellore), Bhogapuram and Orvakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala and Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh. Out of the 21 Greenfield airports, operations have commenced from 8 airports namely, Durgapur, Shirdi, Pakyong, Kannur, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg and Kushinagar.
;
The timeline for construction of airports depends upon various factors such as land acquisition, mandatory clearances, removal of obstacles, financial closure etc. by the respective airport developers. The responsibility of implementation of airport projects including funding of the projects rests with the concerned airport developer including the respective State Government (in case the State Government is the project proponent).
;
Besides, Ministry of Civil Aviation has also launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) in October, 2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses. The expansion/development of airports under the scheme is ''demand driven'', depending upon firm commitment from airline operators as well as from the State Government for providing various concessions.
;
Up till now, 156 RCS airports including 14 water aerodromes & 36 Helipads have been identified for operation of RCS flights therefrom. As on date, 68 airports across the country, including Bihar, have been revived/operationalized and these 68 airports also include 7 Greenfield Airports, 2 Water Aerodromes & 8 Heliports under RCS-UDAN scheme. The list of 68 airports State-wise is at Annexure.
******