The Maharashtra government has sent a proposal to the Centre for a new airport scheduled to come up in Sangli district of western part of the state, a senior government official said here today.
"The airport is being set up at Kavthepiran in Miraj tehsil and around 350 hectare barren, non-cultivable land is available for the project," the official said.
The Kavthepiran project site is located between Sangli and Islampur towns and would utilise 'land which has become infertile due to overexposure to water,' he said.
The airport may become a reality within a year, he added.
Finance Minister Jayant Patil and Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who hail from Sangli district, have initiated work for the project.
Earlier, another political heavyweight from the district, had taken the initiative for setting up an airport at Kavlapur in Miraj tehsil but the project was bogged down as some farmers had approached the High Court, claiming that their arable land was being acquired for the project.
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Jayant Patil has also announced that a manufacturing unit of Bombay Rayon would come up in Walva tehsil which would provide jobs to 10,000 people, the official said.
The project would come up along the National Highway 4 at Peth Naka near Islampur, he informed.