170 airports defunct in India

As many as 170 out of the 454 airports and airstrips available in the country were non-operational, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Replying to a written question, minister of state for civil aviation Praful Patel said as per the records available with the Airports Authority of India, there are 454 airports and airstrips in India out of which 170 airports are non-operational.
Of the non-operational airports and airstrips, 87 belonged to various state governments, 44 to defence and five were private airports while 34 belonged to the AAI, he said.
Indian cargo: Indian proposes to convert five Boeing B-737 aircraft, at present operated by the Alliance Air, into cargo planes at an average conversion cost of approximately $1.5 million, Patel said in reply to another question.
AAI: The value of the gross block of AAI as on April 1, 2005 was Rs 5265.35 crore (Rs 52.65 billion) and the total value of gross block of Delhi and Mumbai airports as on April 1, 2005 was Rs 847.22 crore (Rs 8.47 billion) and Rs 911.47 crore (Rs 9.11 billion) resepectively, he said.
18/05/06 PTI/Rediff

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