TS govt proposes to develop six airports

The Telangana state government has asked ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) to prepare a feasibility study on five more airports in the state, while requesting Airports Authority of India (AAI) to take up this proposal for enhancing regional air connectivity. The state government has decided to develop six airstrips to improve air connectivity initially. Air connectivity will be expanded later to every district.

The state has airstrips in Adilabad, Peddapalli and Warangal. The Mamnoor airport on the outskirts of Warangal is near the Textiles Park. Addakul in Mahbubnagar has been proposed by state government for an airport. Approval for Jakranpally in Nizamabad district is awaited. Mr Rajiv Sharma, chief adviser to the state government, said: “In addition to Warangal and Kothagudem airports, Telangana state is keen on developing a few more airports. We request the civil aviation ministry and AAI to support this initially with five airports.”

He said the Centre was Ikeen on manufacturing aircraft in the country and Telangana state wanted to be part of it. Tata-Boeing aerospace facility is already making the fuselage for Apache helicopter. “The government has spent Rs 1 lakh crore on building infrastructure” he said. Earlier, civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu laid a foundation stone for the Civil Aviation Research Organisation (CARO) at Begumpet airport on Thursday. The AAI is developing CARO at a cost of Rs 250 crore and it is expected to be operational in 18 months.

Mr Prabhu asked AAI and CARO to develop solutions on building infrastructure with less land.  “Safety, convenience, more capacity using limited resources are prime issues and CARO should focus on this. Manufacturing aircraft is our dream. We are already supplying ancilliary parts to aircraft manufacturers globally. The government is keen on cargo development,” said Mr Prabhu.

He also inaugurated the Footwear Design and Development Institute at Gachibowli here.  Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, civil aviation secretary R.N. Choubey said: “Since the Centre is committed on disinvestment in Air India, we will go ahead with that plan. When there’s demand we will initiate the process.” Till then, the government would support Air India. He said that as part of UDAN scheme, 56 airports and 31 helipads would be developed by September 2019.