The Government of India has granted 'in principle' approval for setting up of 15 greenfield airports across the country out of which, physical work at 6 airports namely, Gulbarga, Hassan, Shimoga in Karnataka, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim and Shirdi in Maharashtra, has already commenced, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, KC Venugopal told the Lok Sabha last week. Construction at various airports in the country including Aranmula airport project has not stopped, he added.    

Necessary action for project development, including acquisition of land, financing of the airport project etc is taken by the respective airport promoter. The timeline for construction of airport projects depends upon many factors such as land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure, etc by the individual operator.    

In regard to setting up of Greenfield airport at Aranmula in Kerala, the airport developer, M/s KGS Aranmula International Airport has informed that the work will commence after obtaining the final clearance from Ministry of Environment & Forest.