76 Acres Cleared for Puttaparthi Airport Aerospace Expansion
This paves the way for registration of the land in favour of SSS Aerospace Pvt Ltd that would develop an integrated aviation and aerospace infrastructure facility.
Anantapur:The Andhra Pradesh government has cleared 76.13 acres of land in Brahmanapalli and Puttaparthi villages of Puttaparthi mandal in Satya Sai district from the list of prohibited properties, for an aviation project.
This paves the way for registration of the land in favour of SSS Aerospace Pvt Ltd that would develop an integrated aviation and aerospace infrastructure facility.
While the aerospace project was sanctioned by the Centre adjacent to Puttaparthi airport, the land is part of the existing Sri Sathya Sai airport and stands in the name of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam.
According to the order, the land had been alienated to the trust for the formation and extension of the airstrip, and it continued to remain in the 22-A prohibited properties list. The land had been utilised for the purpose for which it was originally alienated and the government now decided to remove it from the prohibited list in view of the airport development plan, following a request from the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.
Officials said the move is linked to the proposed setting up of an integrated, state-of-the-art aviation and aerospace infrastructure facility at Puttaparthi by SSS Aerospace Pvt Ltd. The government had earlier extended support for the Integration and Flight-Testing Complex project of the Aeronautical Development Agency, Department of Defence R&D, at Puttaparthi.
The government order also noted that land had been provided for the advanced medium combat aircraft project, which would function as a core integration, development and flight-testing centre adjoining the facility. The airport runway is proposed to be extended to 10,000 feet, along with a buffer zone, ATC tower, navigation aids, meteorological facilities and other infrastructure required for flight testing.
SSS Aerospace will have to execute a tripartite agreement with the defence ministry and the state Pradesh government for long-term utilisation and maintenance of the runway before commencement of the operations.
The private party will also have to facilitate concessional long-term runway access for flight testing and accommodate runway expansion and a parallel taxiway.
The move is expected to facilitate the next stage of development of Puttaparthi as an aviation and aerospace hub, with the airport infrastructure being planned to support both commercial and defence-related flight-testing requirements, Puttaparthi MLA Palle Sindhura Reddy said.
