KALABURAGI: The first aircraft will take off from a greenfield airport under construction here in March 2018 only if all pending projects connected with it are completed on schedule. During an inspection of the airport project on Friday, veteran Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge was assured by PWD authorities that final touches will be given by February-end, 2018. Mr Kharge, however, declared that in all probability the first flight will take off by March 2018. Mr Kharge was accompanied by regional commissioner, Mr Amlan Biswas, Chief Engineer, PWD, Mr Pramod Reddy Patil and other senior officers. The prospect of accelerating work, to make up for time delays, has increased in the wake of approval of Rs 37 crores granted by the state cabinet for phase II work, recently.
Mr Pramod Reddy Patil said work for phase II has been entrusted a Bengaluru-based company at an estimated cost of Rs 28.25 crores. Work as part of phase I, including extension of the runway from 1.97 km to 3.20 km, has been ahead of scheduled. Mr Kharge said though work was delayed, it was gratifying to note that this was the only airport in Karnataka on the verge of completion
