Information and Infrastructure Minister Roshan Baig has said that proposals for completing the work on the Shivamogga airport and the construction of a new airport at Ballari will be placed at the next Cabinet meeting for approval.
He told The Hindu here on Monday that the draft note on the Shivamogga airport was ready and a similar draft was being prepared for the airport at Ballari. Mr. Baig said that the proposal for constructing an airport at Vijayapura had made headway with the visit of a senior team from the Airport Authority of India.
Levelling the land acquired for the construction of the airport might require Rs. 100 crore.
Mr. Baig said that Infrastructure Department officials would visit Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to study the working of the no-frills airport there and see whether the same pattern could be adopted for the airport in Shivamogga.
He said that the Vijayapura airport initially would be a small airport with a provision to convert it into a major airport in the future.
Potential
On Ballari airport, Mr. Baig said that the Hyderabad-based MARG conglomerate had come forward to take up the construction. “The Ballari airport has huge potential with many steel industries coming up and with good tourist inflow to Hampi and other historical centres around Ballari,” he said.
On the controversy surrounding the extension of the runway of the Sambra Airport at Belagavi, the Minister said that a road was coming in between the land identified for extending the runway.
“We have asked the district administration to address the matter and ensure that no hardship is caused to the local residents. If needed, alternative land should be acquired for extending the runway,” he added.
