Kalaburagi airport: State to complete work

The State government will itself take up the remaining work on the construction of a greenfield airport in Kalaburagi, as a proposal for handing over the project to the Airports Authority of India has been dropped.

Disclosing this to the media here on Wednesday, Minister for Municipal Administration, Minority Welfare and Wakf, Qamarul Islam, who is also the district in-charge minister, said he had urged the State government to take up the remaining work so that the airport could become operational as early as possible.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has agreed to the request, he said. “The chief minister has asked Infrastructure Development Minister Roshan Baig to table a proposal in the Cabinet in this regard. In about a fortnight, the Cabinet will take a decision,” Islam said.

Islam, who is also the chairman of the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region Development Board, said the Board had set apart Rs 34 crore for the completion of the airport work and that the money had been lying unused for the past one year.

“I am sure the Cabinet will approve the proposal and the work will start soon. The airport should be ready for commercial operations by the next Republic Day,” he said. About 75 per cent of the work has been completed and the rest of it has remained suspended for the last three years due to a dispute between the promoters and the financiers. Islam said there was no legal hurdle for the government to resume the work.