The Government is keeping an open mind on allowing a second airport to come up within 150 km of an existing one.
The current policy says that no new airport should be allowed within a 150 km radius of an existing airport.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the rule was “infructuous” right from the beginning. Officials said the rule was brought in after discussions with private players who threw up the idea.
“We want the private sector to have the confidence if we want them to make long-term investments. But that should not become an impediment to other development. Then what are the legal implications? The overall look is one angle. The legal implications are another angle. Keeping these two in mind we have to see what is in India’s interest as ultimately a decision should be in the interest of the country,” the Minister told BusinessLine.
Asked whether the Ministry was undertaking a study on the rule, the Minister said there has to be a study as there was a need to examine all options and reasoning for taking a particular decision.
The change in the policy will benefit the newly created Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has made his intentions clear to have two more airports in and around Hyderabad in the near future, especially with the city’s population expected to triple to three crore with the development of the proposed Information Technology Investment Region.
One of the proposed airports could be located in the Shamirpet area, while the other could be at Ghatkesar, he told his Cabinet Ministers and senior officials at an interaction meeting last month.
However, the present policy would not allow the setting up of the new airports, as the proposed locations were well under 150 km of the existing Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, operated by the GMR Group.
GMR delegation
In fact, soon after the proposal was made, a delegation of senior GMR Group officials had met the Chief Minister.
The concession agreement between the GMR Group and undivided Andhra Pradesh, which was concluded in 2004 and is valid for 30 years, says that no new airport should come up within 150 km radius of the Hyderabad airport.
The Andhra Pradesh Government has also proposed setting up of a greenfield airport between Vijayawada and Kakinada, besides expansion of the existing airports at Vijaywada, Rajahmundry and Tirupathi.