State-of-the-art city to come up around Shirdi airport
The office of the chief minister of Maharashtra tweeted: “In the Shirdi airport premises, the area will be developed to make a state-of-the-art city with all the facilities. The name of the city will be Area around Shirdi hub Airport ‘Asha’. The project was approved during the meeting held with the Directors of Maharashtra Airport Development Company”
PUNE The Maharashtra state government has decided to set up a state-of-the-art city around Shirdi airport.
The decision was taken by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at the 76th meeting of the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), held at CM’s residence in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The office of the chief minister of Maharashtra tweeted: “In the Shirdi Airport premises, the area will be developed to make a state-of-the-art city with all the facilities. The name of the city will be Area around Shirdi hub Airport ‘Asha’. The project was approved during the meeting held with the Directors of Maharashtra Airport Development Company.”
The airport is located at Kakadi in Kopargaon on 350 hectares, 14-km from Shirdi. The airport will soon be able to handle flight operations at night.
Work on a new passenger terminal to handle rising footfall and a cargo terminal, which will increase exports of horticultural produce like flowers and fruits from the region to locations across India, will also begin at the facility.
The runway length of the airport was increased to 3,200 metres from 2,500 metres.
The present terminal building can handle 10,000 to 12,000 passengers daily, and the MADC is planning a new passenger terminal that can cater to 20,000 to 25,000 passengers per day.
It has sought ₹230 crore from the state for the new terminal building. The capacity expansion will ensure the airport can handle around 35,000 passengers.