The Civil Aviation Ministry will announce a new policy on airport infrastructure by end of March or early April to facilitate expeditious construction of airports and related facilities in various parts of the country, particularly on the public-private partnership model, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said here on Wednesday.
“We are in the process of framing new guidelines and obtaining the necessary Cabinet approval for the same before a formal announcement by the end of March or early April,” said Patel, who was here at the signing of a Technical Services Agreement between Changi Airports International of Singapore and Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd for the development of India’s first greenfield aerotropolis near Durgapur. “We need more airports to support the growing aviation market in India. I hope the new policy will come into effect from June next,” the civil aviation minister said. A Committee on Airport Infrastructure headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been formed. The Committee had recently met to finalise a strategy for easy creation of airport infrastructure by eliminating procedural delays and red tapism.
Single clearance
“Under the new guidelines which have been sent to the union cabinet for approval, a Steering Committee will be formed under the Civil Aviation Ministry to facilitate single window clearance for airport infrastructure projects,” Patel pointed out.
Currently, one has to obtain separate licences from the Home Ministry, Defence Ministry and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) apart from the Aviation Ministry for building new airports.
The new set of guidelines aims to club all agencies under one single nodal authority for easy creation of infrastructure, he stressed.
In another development, the Aviation Ministry plans to seek investment from private enterprise for re-opening some of the 45 airports that have remained closed across the country for several years.
“We’re making a list of such airstrips which could be re-opened, through private sector participation, and the list will be declared within a month”.
