The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has withdrawn the “in-principle clearance” granted in 2011 for the proposed KGS Aranmula international airport at Aranmula.
In a letter (No.AV.200015/ 29/ 2015- AD, dated May 25, 2015) to Gigi George, managing director of KGS Aranmula International Airport Limited, Under Secretary Sunil Pant stated that a steering committee meeting on May 5 reviewed the case of the proposed greenfield airport at Aranmula.
Matter reconsidered
The letter says “thereafter, the Civil Aviation Ministry had reconsidered the matter in the light of the deliberations held during the steering committee meeting and also the fact that the Ministry of Defence (vide letter dated 8-5-2015) have withdrawn the No Objection Certificate (NOC) conveyed to the project.”
It further states that the “competent authority in the Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to withdraw the ‘in-principle’ approval accorded to the project, vide letter No. A.20015/015/2009-AD, dated 28-10-2011.”
The Civil Aviation Ministry has also forwarded copies of the letter withdrawing the approval for the airport project to the Prime Minister’s Office, Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Ministry of Home Affairs, Defence Ministry, Planning Commission, Departments of Economic Affairs and Revenue, and the Project Monitoring Group at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had cancelled the environment clearance granted to the project by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Supreme Court had also dismissed the appeals of the KGS Group against the NGT judgment, earlier.
