Centre Gives Green Nod To Rs 1,400 Crore Airport At Rajkot

The Centre has given green clearance for a greenfield airport project at Hirasar, about 28 kilometres from Rajkot in Gujarat, at a cost of more than Rs 1,400 crore.

The state government has proposed a new airport in Rajkot district as the existing one is small and the earlier plan to extend the current runway could not materialise because of high land cost.

"The environment ministry has given the environment clearance to the Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Ltd (GSAICL) for development of a greenfield airport at Rajkot,” a senior government official said. The clearance, which takes into account the ministry's expert panel, is subject to certain riders, the official added.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1,405 crore. It will be a single runway airport for operating ‘C' category aircraft spread over an area of 1,025.54 hectares, of which 96.48 percent is government land.

According to the GSAICL, the proposed project will aid development of trade and tourism besides improving regional connectivity in Gujarat.

More than a 1,000 people will be employed directly and indirectly for different activities of the airport. As many as 2,180 trees will be cut and 632.24 hectare forest land diverted for the proposed airport site.

All airports in Gujarat have a moderate air-traffic growth of 5-8 percent with exceptions of Ahmedabad and Vadodara where traffic growth is between 8-10 percent, as per the Airport Authority of India.

The holistic development of Hirasar airport will not only serve the demand generated by the Rajkot city but also cater to the demand in the neighbouring states. In due course, the proposed airport will also meet the spillover needs to Ahmedabad, it said in the report submitted by GSAICL to the central government along with the proposal.