Karnataka Is Probably Going To Use The Maharashtra Model To Run And Manage Airports

For the first time, the Karnataka government is thinking of emulating the Maharashtra model for the upkeep and management of airports that it is building now and in the future.The government is expected to administer these airports and generate revenue from them rather than turning over control of them to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).If all goes according to plan, the state government will manage and operate its own airport, Shivamogga Airport, which is anticipated to open in January.

MP B Y Raghavendra stated that the Maharashtra government has established an institution to oversee and run the approximately six to seven airports it has built. According to him, they are considering using the same approach again, and Shivamogga Airport might be the first of its kind to be under the state government's direct management. Only 90% of the overall building cost has been financed by the state government. Therefore, the government intends to make use of the airport earnings.

According to Raghavendra, a team of state representatives will soon travel to Maharashtra to observe how the state government there runs its airports. He added that the Shirdi Airport is among the airports the team will visit. The state government would make a final decision after examining the model over whether to hand over the airport to the AAI, have the Infrastructure Department administer it, or privatise it.

In order to design, develop, operate, and maintain airports in the state, the Maharashtra government established the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC), a special purpose corporation, in 2002.

Meanwhile, an estimated Rs 384 crores is being spent on the construction of Shivamogga Airport. Its 3,200-meter runway, which is second in length in the state only to Kempegowda International Airport in Devanahalli, close to Bengaluru, is located there. In order to run flights from Shivamogga to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Mangaluru, Tirupati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Delhi, and Goa under the UDAN Scheme, Raghavendra has already asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation to accept his plea.