‘Pay Rs 80 cr for Kolhapur airport expansion’

The state government has directed Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to pay Rs 80 crore for acquiring land for expansion and development of Kolhapur airport.

The state government has directed Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to pay Rs 80 crore for acquiring land for expansion and development of Kolhapur airport.

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“The government has asked MIDC to pay Rs 80 crore towards acquisition of 223 hectare land in five villages for extension of the Kolhapur airstrip, which will accommodate Boeing aircraft by 2011 end,” Guardian Minister of Kolhapur, Harshwardhan Patil said.

A meeting was held at Kolhapur earlier this month, chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan where the decision to sanction funds for land acquisition was taken in principle. The final decision was taken two days ago, the minister said.

The runway at Kolhapur which is now 1,370-m long, will be extended to 3,300 m, he said.

The government has decided to make Kolhapur an IT hub after Pune, Patil said. With the decision of allocating funds in one go for the airport development and modernisation, industries and IT units in the region will benefit, the minister said.