Govt may allow airports on private land, says Patel

New Delhi: To overcome hurdles in land acquisition for airport projects, the government is planning to allow private players to build airports on their own land.
“To increase connectivity, the government will set up merchant greenfield airports, which will be private airports built on privately owned lands, within permissible civil aviation parameters,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
This, he said, would solve the problem of land acquisition, which was a major hurdle to infrastructure projects in the country.
The Jindal group recently opened its Jindal Vijayanagar airport, that had been operating as a private airstrip since 1997, for commercial operations.
Apart from Air Deccan, which operates daily flights connecting Bangalore and Goa with Vijayanagar, Kingfisher Airlines has shown interest in operating flights connecting Mumbai, Hubli and Vijaynagar.
The civil aviation ministry is also negotiating with state governments to develop some of the 300 airstrips to provide better regional connectivity.
06/02/07 Business Standard

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Categories: airports feb 2007, General Aviation feb 2007, New feb 2007