K'taka to develop third intl airport

The Karnataka government proposes to develop Hubli airport as its third international airport in the next few years. Currently, the state has two international airports at Bangalore and Mangalore.

The ongoing upgradation work at Hubli airport will be further extended to make it an international airport, a senior state government official said.

"The state government is keen to develop one more international airport in addition to Bangalore and Mangalore in the state and Hubli is the right place to do so as it is the second biggest city in the state and a centre of business activities. We have already commenced the preliminary work in this direction," said V P Baligar, principal secretary, infrastructure development department, government of Karnataka.

Addressing a state level round table conference on infrastructure and industry related issues, organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on Saturday, he said 650 acres land is required for the upgradation of Hubli airport to international standards and the state cabinet has approved the proposal to acquire additional land in Hubli.

The airport is already upgraded to enable night landing and facilitate landing and take-off of bigger size aircraft. At present, only Air Deccan is operating its ATR aircraft from Bangalore.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher has also indicated that it will commence flights between Bangalore and Hubli.

Baligar said the government also proposes to develop four new greenfield airports in the state at an average investment of Rs 80 crore for each airport. The new places identified are Gulbarga, Hassan, Bijapur and Shimoga.

While the land is available for the new airport at Hassan, at Gulbarga it has been recently acquired. The state government has earmarked Rs 20 crore each for Hassan and Gulbarga airports. "The state government is willing to provide capital grant to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the development of minor airports in these places," he said.

The feasibility study is currently underway for developing an airport in Shimoga and a recommendation has been sent to the Union ministry of civil aviation, he said adding that the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board has been entrusted the task of identifying the suitable land for airport at Shimoga.

Baligar said the land for airport at Bijapur had also been identified and the Centre had been requested to send a team to inspect the same. In addition to four new airports, the government has also recently received the no-objection certificate for operating civil aircraft at Bidar airport, which belongs to the Indian Air Force.

However, the terminal building is needed to be built at Bidar airport. The permission is still awaited for using Karwar airstrip, which is under the control of Indian Navy.

Air Deccan has agreed to provide connectivity from Bangalore to these places, he said.

As regards to development of an airport at Bellary, the state government has asked the AAI to indicate how much land they require, he said adding the cabinet has approved the acquisition of 370 acres land for upgradation of Belgaum airport.