New Delhi: The nation's 21 new greenfield (fresh) airports have received "in principle" approval from the government. According to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Thursday, the completion of Navi Mumbai, Vijayapura, Hassan, Noida (Jewar), Hirasar, and Dholera airports is likely to occur within the next three years.
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia stated, "Out of these (21 greenfield airports), 11 greenfield airports including six airports — Orvakal (Kurnool) in 2021, Sindhudurg in 2021, Kushinagar in 2021, Itanagar in 2022, Mopa in 2023 and Shivamogga in 2023 — have been operationalised in past three years."
The 21 airports are Mopa in Goa; Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra; Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka; Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh; Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh; Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat; Karaikal in Puducherry; Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Orvakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh; Durgapur in West Bengal; Pakyong in Sikkim; Kannur in Kerala; and Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh across the country.
Be that as it may, the courses of events for the development of greenfield airports relies on different factors like land procurement, required clearances, evacuation of snags, monetary conclusion, and so on., by the developers of the respective airports.
Airports are now the center of economic activity and have a multiplier effect on the state's economy. It is widely acknowledged that economic expansion is correlated with the civil aviation industry.
According to a study conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), air connectivity has an employment multiplier of 6.1 and an economic multiplier of 3.1.
As of February 28, 2023, 469 routes operating under UDAN connect 74 unserved and underserved airports, including 9 heliports and 2 water aerodromes.