AAI selects Purandar taluka for greenfield international airport near Pune: Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: On Thursday the Maharashtra government gave a go-ahead for carrying out a detailed project report (DRP) for the greenfield international airport, which will come in Purandar tehsil of Pune district.

The proposed airport will be spread over 2,400 hectares and the site has been already approved by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters on Thursday.

Fadnavis held a meeting with Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) on the issue.

“We decided to grant permissions for carrying out DPR as well as Obstacle Limitation Surface survey for the proposed site,” the Chief Minister added.

“Located near historic fort Purandar - the proposed airport would named as Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje International Airport”, Fadnavis said, adding post acquisition of land, the airport will commence within three years.

“The site is around 15-20 km away from Pune city. Located on the south of the city, the proposed airport will be connected with six different routes including National Highway 4 and 17”, he said.

According to the Chief Minister, there will be a special ring-road connecting major industrial establishments with the proposed airport from Hadapsar area of Pune.

Officials said some of these establishments include Chakan MIDC, several phases of Talegaon MIDC, Bhosari MIDC, having an annual economy of Rs 30,000 crore and Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, which has an average IT-export of over Rs 50,000 crore every year.

The IT and auto sectors were demanding a dedicated international airport with cargo facility for over a decade.

When asked about earlier proposed sites like Chakan and Rajgurunagar, Fadnavis said except Purandar no other site is approved by AAI.

“Most of the farmers have expressed their willingness for the project. The farmers, whose land will be acquired for the project, will become partner in the airport developing company which will ensure some steady income source for them. This model has been used in the state earlier for land acquisition of (proposed) Navi Mumbai International Airport”, the Chief Minister added.

Officials said Purandar is an arid region with very low rainfall and most of the land is non-agricultural while in some areas farmers opt for kharif crops only.

Officials said the existing airbase of Indian Air Force near Pune city is used for civil aviation but it has limitations of security as well as land availability.

Hence, the Maharashtra government decided to go for the Purandar site, they added.

The current passenger movement from Pune airport is around 6 lakh per year.

“The proposed airport will have two airstrips-each having length of four km. It will handle cargo along with passenger traffic,” Fadnavis said.

“Most of the land would be acquired from villages such as Pargaon, Munjewadi and Memane from Purandar teshil,” the Chief Minister added.

Asked about proposed airport in Kolhapur, around 230-km from Pune, Fadnavis said “The state government is spending Rs 40 crore for Kolhapur airport and it will be a domestic airport”.

The Chief Minister also spoke about the Nagpur airport, which is also going to be a cargo terminal.

“The Request for Quotation and Request for Proposal is completed. Six companies have submitted bids for it including Tata, Essel, IRB and GMR among others. For the first time, six companies have come forward for an airport,” he added.