Hyderabad: Centre gives in-principle approval for Sabarimala greenfield airport

Hyderabad : Union Minister of Culture, Tourism and Development of Northeastern Region G Kishan Reddy on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for site clearance for the Sabarimala Greenfield airport.

He said the Centre, under the leadership of Modi, aims at democratising air travel so that the middle class and less privileged can have access to a cost-effective air travel

The Centre has been working in this direction since 2014.

Currently, there are close to 150 operational airports; half of them (74) have been made operational after 2014, he added.

The Union government has been taking several steps in making spiritual travel more seamless for devotees and the public.

In this direction, the Centre has given site clearance for a green field airport at Sabarimala, near Kottayam.

Reddy said, as per the greenfield airport policy, approvals are given through a two-step process.

"With the Centre giving a green signal through site clearance, the next step will require in-principle approval from various Union ministries."

He said every year close to one crore devotees visit Sabarimala; a majority of them between November and January, which is termed as 'Mandala' season. Annually Telugu States contribute about 15 lakh of them.

The minister also expressed his gratitude to Union Minister of Civil Aviation JyotiradityaScindia for acting on his request.

As per information furnished in the application for site clearance, 2,263.18 acres of government land has been identified for the development of the airport.

Further, as per the Techno-Economic Feasibility Study (TEFS) report of the project, the airport will be developed under PPP mode at an estimated cost of Rs. 3,973 crore, Reddy said.