Mumbai: The Devendra Fadnavis-led state government is expanding the capacity of at least 10 smaller airports across Maharashtra and planning newer ones to boost connectivity and hence the investment potential of multiple destinations across the state.
Of these, work on two airports—in Amravati and Shirdi—is likely to be completed by 31 March this year. The other airports where the government wants to increase capacity are Solapur, Kolhapur, Gondia, Jalgaon, Akola, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly called Aurangabad), Nashik, Nagpur and Ratnagiri.
“Overall, the big push is to improve or expand existing airports, modify runways to cater to bigger planes, have night-landing facilities and so on,” a senior Maharashtra government official who did not wish to be named told ThePrint.
“Amravati is part of our 100-day plan. There are just some small formalities pending ahead of the final clearance by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” he said.
The Belora airport at Amravati will be the third airport in Vidarbha after Nagpur and Gondia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the airport in October last year ahead of the state assembly polls. The Opposition had criticised the inauguration, highlighting that the airport was not fully ready.
The official said the Maharashtra government is also working towards implementing the much-delayed plan of starting night-landing at the Shirdi airport by the end of the current fiscal year. Shirdi is one of the main pilgrimage centres in Maharashtra.
The Shirdi airport is currently operational between 10 am and 6 pm and handles about 2,000 passengers a day. The airport acquired its license for night landing in February 2023. However, night-landing facilities have still not taken off at the airport.
The Maharashtra government official quoted above said, “Currently, carpeting of the runway is underway. We are aiming to complete the work by 31 March, so that Shirdi can be operationalised for the summer schedule.”
Muralidhar Mohol, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation, told reporters earlier this month that there were also some technical gaps when it came to starting night landing at Shirdi airport.
“We need additional Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Air Traffic Control manpower. We have requested Union Minister Amit Shah who has agreed to give the required additional manpower,” Mohol said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier this month held a review meeting for the development of small airports across Maharashtra
As of now, Maharashtra has 33 airports operational in some or the other form.
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Expansion of airports, Nagpur a priority
Along with the Belora airport, PM Modi also laid the foundation stone in October for the expansion of the Nagpur airport, which officials say is a priority for CM Fadnavis who hails from Nagpur.
The Maharashtra government is expanding the Nagpur airport in cooperation with GMR airports Limited. The first phase of the expansion involves augmenting the capacity of the airport to cater to 4 million passengers annually from the current about 2-3 million passengers.
Once fully complete, GMR said, in a statement in October, the Nagpur airport will have the capacity of catering to 30 million passengers annually. The project also involves building a modern cargo terminal and a new Air Traffic Control tower, other than upgrading the overall infrastructure.
The project requires a lot of coordination with the Centre as there is an Indian Air Force land that needs to be shifted, the official quoted above said.
“At Gondia, the other airport in the Vidarbha region, the AAI has said that there are issues with landing. We have asked the AAI to tell us exactly what the issues are so that we can address them,” he added.
As for Nagpur, there is also considerable coordination required with the Centre for the expansion of airports at Nashik and Ratnagiri. The Ratnagiri Airport is under the jurisdiction of the Indian Coast Guard, while the Nashik Airport is under the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Other than these, the state government has planned the extension of the runway at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar airport, the construction of a new terminal building and expansion of the runway at Jalgaon, the creation of night landing facility at Solapur and the overall expansion of the Kolhapur and Akola airports.
The Maharashtra government is also planning to build new airports at the sensitive Gadchiroli district, which CM Fadnavis has been trying to market as an attractive investment destination, and Wadhawan, where the Centre is constructing a new showpiece port. At Gadchiroli, the state government has issued a notification to start acquiring 229.43 hectares of land it requires for the project.
The Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) is also in the process of preparing a detailed project report for Gadchiroli.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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