The Odisha Government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Wednesday to establish the second airport in the State at Jharsuguda.
As per the preliminary estimate of AAI, the cost of the project is Rs. 210 crore. The State government will provide a financial assistance of Rs. 75 crore to the AAI for the project.
The MoU was signed by AAI chairman Alok Sinha and Special Secretary of State government’s General Administration Department Nitin Chandra.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a function at the Secretariat here.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Patnaik said the Jharsuguda airport was strategically significant as the town has marked concentration of industries and urban population because of its proximity to valuable natural resources.
The Jharsuguda airport, which belongs to the Airports Authority of India with an area of 909.220 acres, is not in operation. Only the Air Traffic Control Tower is functional and chartered aircraft are being operated.
Once the airport is developed, A-320 type of aircraft will operate initially to provide connectivity to north-western Odisha.
An area of 296.50 acres of land will be provided to the AAI free cost for development (Phase-1 & 2) of the airport, of which 118.75 acres will be provided immediately, and the rest in due course.
The AAI will develop the airport for full-fledged operations of A-320 aircraft within two years from the date on which the physical possession of land for phase-I is handed over along with funds of Rs. 75 crore for the project.
At present, the State has only the Biju Patnaik Airport at Bhubaneswar, which was recently declared as an international airport.
