Investments worth Rs 91,000 crore will be made for developing existing and new airports Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh said this in the Rajya Sabha in written replies.
Expansion plans
He informed that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken up a development programme to spend around Rs 25,000 crore in the next 4 to 5 years. This is for expansion and modification of existing terminals, new terminals and strengthening of runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services (ANS), control towers, technical blocks, etc. This is part of the several measures being taken to boost the civil aviation sector.
Greenfield airports
The government has accorded in-principle approval for setting up 21 greenfield airports. Rs 36,000 crore has been planned for investment in the development of new greenfield airports across the country under PPP mode.
Eight of them, including Pakyong (Sikkim), Kannur (Kerala), Orvakal (Andhra Pradesh), Kalaburagi (Karnataka) and Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh), are now operational. Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru airports have undertaken major expansion plans to the tune of Rs 30,000.
The minister also said that the government continues to undertake several measures to make the civil aviation sector a major attraction and to develop it as a major partner in the national economy.
