Bhubaneswar: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted site clearance approval for the proposed Sri Jagannath International Airport in Odisha’s pilgrim town of Puri.
The state government, which submitted all requisites to the ministry seeking clearance to set up the airport in accordance with the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, about a year ago, has been asked to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for grant of ‘in-principle’ approval.
According to reports, Odisha has to submit its application along with the DPR for in-principle approval of the steering committee on greenfield airports within two years.
A total of 1,164 acre of land has been earmarked for the proposed airport, which is likely to built at an estimated cost of Rs 5,631 crore. The process for land acquisition began following favourable obstacle limitation surfaces (OLS) survey. Among them, 153 acre in Sipasarubali and 68 acre in Sandhapur (both under Brahmagiri tehsil) are private land. The public hearing for the proposed airport, which began on May 31, also yielded positive feedback from locals, whose land will be acquired for the project.
No habitation exists in these plots, and so, the need for rehabilitation and resettlement does not arise, the reports said, adding that process is also on for conversion of some government land. Construction work can start early next year, if every other process, including completion of necessary formalities with all regulatory bodies and government agencies which are a pre-requisite for the in-principle approval, is completed on time.
On January 1, 2021, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to establish an international airport at Puri which will help promote Jagannath culture as land constraints stalled expansion of Bhubaneswar airport, which was getting busier by the day due to the high footfall of tourists and pilgrims to Puri, , which is about 65 km from the Odisha capital.
The CM sought his intervention to expedite the process during a visit to Delhi in May. Later that month, Naveen, during the flagging off of the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express train by the PM virtually, invited him to inaugurate the airport once it is ready with his support within three to four years.
