Govt ready with Rs 91,000 crore investment plan for big push to airports

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The Government has drawn up a Rs 91,000 crore investment plan to develop new airports and expand existing ones to meet the increasing demand in the aviation sector in future, according to information provided by the Civil Aviation Ministry to Parliament on Monday.</p>
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As much as Rs 36,000 crores of this amount will be invested in the development of new Greenfield airports across the country under the PPP (public-private partnership) mode.</p>
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Government of India has accorded 'in-principle' approval for setting up of 21 Greenfield Airports across the country. So far, eight Greenfield airports namely, Sindhudurg and Shirdi in Maharashtra, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala, Orvakal in Andhra Pradesh, Kalaburagi in Karnataka and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh have been operationalized.</p>
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The Public Private Partnership (PPP) airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are undertaking major expansion projects of around Rs. 30,000 crores by 2025.</p>
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AAI has taken up development of new and existing airports with a projected capital expenditure of around Rs. 25,000 crores in the next five years.  This includes construction of new terminals, expansion and modification of existing terminals, expansion and/ or strengthening of existing runways, aprons, Airport Navigation Services infrastructure, control towers and technical blocks etc.</p>
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Airports Authority of India(AAI) has also identified 154 airports under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) including 14 water aerodromes and 36 helipads so far under UDAN for operation of RCS flights. Airports Authority of India(AAI), the Implementing Agency, has awarded 948 routes, from which, 405 routes involving 65 airports including 8 heliports and 2 water aerodromes have been operationalized under UDAN as on 09.03.2022.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/india-news/pm-gati-shakti-master-plan-earmarks-grand-greenfield-expressways-bridges-and-tunnels-for-seamless-connectivity-150572.html">PM Gati Shakti Master Plan earmarks 22 grand greenfield expressways, bridges and tunnels for seamless connectivity</a></strong></p>