Hyderabad: Telangana’s long-delayed Mamnoor airport at Warangal may finally be getting ready to take off.
But as it taxis on the runway after the government fast-tracked approvals and completed land acquisition last week, a political battle has emerged between the BJP-led central government and the Congress-led Telangana government over who deserves credit.
As soon as news of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) officially floating an infrastructure tender to build the airport broke on 14 September, the state BJP unit quickly credited Prime Minister Modi with the project clearance and with facilitating the one-time waiver with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL).
The Congress, on its part, also took credit for its role in speeding up land acquisition and in ensuring Telangana’s second airport becomes a reality.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has also asked the public to suggest a name for the airport that reflects its Kakatiya heritage.
Originally opened in 1930, the Warangal airport served the region until commercial operations ceased in 1981. According to Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu, the airport could be completed in 30 months once the Telangana government hands over the land to the AAI.
Plans for the 250-acre Mamnoor airport in Warangal have been in the making since 2014, after the state’s creation.
However, GMR Airports, the Hyderabad airport operator, refused clearance at least three times even after former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao wrote multiple letters to the company during both his terms seeking its approval.
GMR’s approval was critical because of a crucial clause that protects its commercial interests by preventing an airport within 150 km of Hyderabad.
Clause 5.2—part of the 66-page detailed concessionaire agreement between GHIAL and (undivided) Andhra Pradesh—grants the airport operator exclusivity, prohibiting the development of any other commercial, civilian airport within a 150-km radius for 25 years.
It was after this arrangement was agreed to that GMR invested Rs 2,900 crore in the first phase of creating airport infrastructure.
This agreement was signed between the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and GMR in 2004, when Hyderabad became India’s first airport to be modernised by a private company.
GHIAL was allotted 5,000 acres of land and given the right to develop, construct, operate, and maintain the Hyderabad International Airport. Within four years, the airport began commercial operations in March 2008.
“It was the BJP-led government at the Centre that spoke to the GMR management and facilitated a one-time waiver on the company’s policy to disallow an airport within the 150-km range,” N. Ramchander Rao, Telangana BJP President, told ThePrint.
“We ensured the political and legal gridlock came to a halt earlier this year, and only then was the Congress government able to proceed with sanctioning Rs 205 crore to acquire the necessary land,” he said.
However, the Congress alleged that the Centre was granting permission only to the BJP-ruled states for constructing airports near the main international airports.
In Delhi, although GMR’s international airport is less than 90 km from the new airport in Noida, the 150-km rule was relaxed.
However, in Tamil Nadu, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Congress’s request for an additional airport in Hosur was denied, citing the 150-km restraining clause.
“While we understand that GMR Hyderabad’s airport’s 25-year period has neared its sunset, the BJP should not discriminate against other states and airport developers keeping just narrow political gains in mind,” said Jagga Reddy, Congress Working President in Telangana.
The Centre, or the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the state said the commercial concession agreement with Bangalore International Airport Limited asks for the exclusivity clause to be upheld until 2033.
Signalling its cooperation, GHIAL has issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the state government and the Centre for the Mamnoor airport in Warangal.
GMR previously blocked proposals for closer regional alternative sites such as Shamirpet or Ghatkesar under the exclusivity clause to protect its revenue.
While the Centre granted its in-principle approval for the airport last year, the Ministry of Civil Aviation gave its final nod during Parliament’s monsoon session in July, according to a written reply to a question by Telangana Rajya Sabha MP Vem Narender Reddy. At the time, an amount of Rs 497 crore was also approved as the airport cost.
The AAI said in a release that the first phase includes construction of a new domestic terminal building, an Air Traffic Control Tower and Technical Block, a fire station, and other associated projects.
Together, the state government and the MoCA have set a June 2028 target for completion, with less than six months until the assembly elections that year.
Warangal’s political significance
Warangal holds immense political significance for every party in Telangana, with the district being not just the gateway for the state’s southern districts, but also widely regarded as the political weathervane.
Historically, it also served as the nerve centre for the Telangana movement and subsequently the Maoist movement, with many students from the then Regional Engineering College (REC, now National Institute of Technology) supplying the underground People’s War Group (PWG) with steady manpower.
It is also the second largest city in Telangana. For the BJP, capturing Warangal is crucial for it to shed its “urban-centric” image and establish itself as a state-wide alternative to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
“We must not forget that the BJP’s historical foundation in Telangana was laid in Warangal in 1984. At the time, the party won only two Lok Sabha seats, one of which was by C. Janga Reddy from Warangal parliamentary constituency,” said Ramchander Rao.
Subsequently, the BJP successfully held the mayoral chair in Warangal in 2002, when Dr T. Rajeshwar Rao was elected as Mayor of the Warangal Municipal Corporation in direct elections held by the then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu when he was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time.
At the time, the BJP and Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) were in an alliance in united Andhra Pradesh.
Since then, the BJP has systematically expanded its base across assembly, corporation, and local body elections in the region.
Therefore, to anchor its influence in this district, many key infrastructure projects have been announced by the Centre in the past two years.
The Centre heavily emphasised massive infrastructure upgrades for Warangal, from the Kazipet coach factory to the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, and now the AAI airport. The Telangana Infrastructure and Industrial Corporation (TGIIC) said the projects are worth nearly Rs 17,000 crore.
In addition, under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, major highway expansions are underway. The four-laning of the Karimnagar-Warangal section of NH-563 and segments of the Nagpur-Vijayawada Corridor directly connect Warangal’s industrial assets to major national markets in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
“Although Warangal in itself is home to just 15 lakh people, the new airport will act as a catalyst for the entire southern Telangana region, allowing access for people from the surrounding districts to use the facilities,” Lt Commander Ravindra Reddy, CEO of TGIIC, told ThePrint.
“With Telangana being landlocked, the airport will make up for the absence of a port where high-value products can be exported. It would also be a major boost for interconnectivity,” he added.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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