KCR seeks civil aviation minister’s early nod for five airports in Telangana

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday urged civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri to expedite the process of establishing five more airports in Telangana State.

Rao met the minister in New Delhi and handed over a letter seeking to expedite the process for the establishing the airports. In his letter, he stated, “I had requested the Prime Minister immediately after the formation of Telangana in 2014 to establish five more airports in the state, as it has only one in Hyderabad”.
Rao brought to the notice of the Union minister that the Telangana state government has initiated process to create additional domestic airports and based on discussions with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman a formal proposal was sent in 2018 for the AAI to give feasibility reports.

It was indicated that only no-frills airports for small aircrafts will be developed initially, and they could subsequently be expanded for commercial operations based on demand.

The identified areas were Basantnagar in Peddapalli district, Mamnoor in Warangal Urban district, Adilabad district, Jakranpally in Nizamabad district, Devarkadra in Mahbubnagar district and Bhadradri-Kothagudem district.
He informed Puri that though AAI has already taken up Obstacle Limitation Surface Survey (OLS), soil testing and other investigations at the sites and some draft reports have recently come, the final reports are yet to be given.

He sought the Union minister to ensure hand-holding with the state government in finalising the sites and getting all statutory clearances on a single-window basis so that the state government can commence infrastructure work for starting Non-Scheduled Operator's Permit (NSOP) operations with its own funds.