E-Paper
Union ministry’s site clearance to Purandar airport in Pune
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in the year 2016, announced the setting up of a Greenfield international airport at Purandar in Pune district.
Days after the steering committee for Greenfield airports gave clearance for the proposed international airport in Purandar, the union ministry of civil aviation, on Tuesday, accorded the final site clearance.
Suresh Prabhu, union minister of civil aviation, on Tuesday tweeted, “Today, have accorded site clearance to the new greenfield airport for Pune at Purandar.”
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in the year 2016, announced the setting up of a Greenfield international airport at Purandar in Pune district.
Approved by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the proposed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje International Airport project at Purandar will cover over 2,400 hectares and is expected to mitigate the pressure of air traffic on the existing Lohegaon International Airport in Pune.
As per the latest data released by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), passenger traffic at the existing airport at Lohegaon, which is controlled by the Indian Air Force and operated by the AAI, surged 20.6 per cent to 8.16 million in fiscal 2017-18, compared with 6.76 million in fiscal 2016-17.
Prabhu, added, “The existing airport (Lohegaon International Airport) has exhausted its capacity and this new airport will help us add more passenger flights and cargo operations to the vibrant city of Pune.”
Expressing gratitude towards the central government, Anil Shirole, member of Parliament (MP), said, “This is a step forward to making the Purandar airport a reality. It also highlights the fact that we have walked the talk by keeping the promise which we had made during the elections in 2014.”
Shirole also tweeted to thank Union minister Suresh Prabhu and Jayant Sinha. On April 23, steering committee for the Greenfield airport cleared the last hurdle for the project by giving the final go ahead and site clearances for the proposed international airport in Purandar.
The go ahead was given during a meeting between the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) officials and the steering committee in New Delhi.
CS Gupta, executive director, MADC, had earlier said, “We gave a detailed presentation to the steering committee covering all the aspects and reports related to the Purandar international airport. After the presentation, the committee finally approved the project by giving the necessary clearance.”
Meanwhile, a comparative study of the growth figures of other main airports of the country stipulates that Lohegaon international airport in Pune registered the third highest growth percentage in passenger flow in 2017-18. It was ranked 10th in 2016-17.
