Bihar Budget 2025-26: Nitish govt announces plans to develop 15 airports

The Bihar government has already proposed the development of a greenfield international airport near Patna to cater to the growth in the civil aviation sector over the next 50-70 years.

The Bihar government has announced plans to develop 15 airports, a significant increase from the current three, to boost air connectivity in the state at an estimated cost of ₹11,500 lakh, according to the budget presented in the assembly on Monday.

Bihar deputy CM and finance minister Samrat Choudhary at the assembly before presenting 2025-26 state budget on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/ HT Photo)

Deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary, who holds the finance portfolio, said in the House in Patna that three airports would be developed at Rajgir in Nalanda district, Sultanganj (Bhagalpur) and Raxaul (Forbesganj), while seven smaller airports would be developed at Bhagalpur, Valmikinagar (West Champaran), Birpur (Supaul), Madhubani, Munger, Saharsa and Muzaffarpur.

These would be taken up under the central government’s UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, also known as the regional connectivity scheme, which aims to increase the number of operational airstrips for scheduled civilian flights and make flying affordable for the masses.

These airports would be in addition to the development of the Purnia airport, a defence airbase, where operation of commercial flights was expected to begin in the next three months after the completion of the makeshift terminal building, Chaudhary said.

The Bihar government has already proposed the development of a greenfield international airport near Patna to cater to the growth in the civil aviation sector over the next 50-70 years. Bihar chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena has also written to the secretary of the ministry of civil aviation in this regard on February 27.

Assuring full support from the state government, including land acquisition, Meena requested the civil aviation secretary to consider the state’s proposal and initiate necessary feasibility survey to identify a suitable location for the airport in Patna.

The Centre, in its Union budget on February 1, had granted in principle approval to three greenfield airport projects at Rajgir, Bhagalpur and Sonepur in Bihar’s Saran district. These would be in addition to the three functional airports at Patna, Gaya and Darbhanga. Work on capacity addition of Patna’s Bihta airport, a defence airport, was also underway, and commercial flights were expected to begin from Bihta in 2027.

The Airports Authority of India had last month issued the work order to a Russian company for the construction of the Bihta airport, where the Bihar government had earlier given 108 acres land to the AAI for the construction of the terminal building.