IAF firing range at Bidar stalled for 30 years; Fresh proposals under consideration

New Delhi: More than 30 years after it was first proposed, the Union government is yet to approve construction of an Indian Air Force weapon firing range at Bidar, even as the force spends over Rs 100 crore every year to ferry trainee pilots to Jamnagar for weapon training.

After the project was stalled for seven years in the Defence Ministry, the IAF has taken it up once again in 2023 with reduced land requirements but queries have now been raised by the ministry on the rationale behind such a reduction, says a project audit report.

Way back in 1994, the IAF Training Command suggested setting up an air-to-ground weapon training range at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. Three decades later, the project cost stands at Rs 330 crore for an area of 1,321 acres. This is 685 acres less than what was originally proposed.

The case for Acceptance of Necessity for 1,321 acres of land was moved again by the IAF in January 2023 and was being examined by the Director General Defence Estate.

But in August the Defence Ministry objected to the proposal arguing that the reduced area would not be sufficient for weapons training.

“The (MoD) reply brings out that IAF was unable to narrow down the correct land requirement for weapon range for the last three decades. Considering the importance of weapon training requirements, the matter needed to be taken up with utmost urgency,” the Comptroller and Auditor General said in a recent report.

The Air Force Station Bidar currently trains rookie fighter pilots on the final part of their combat flying which includes weapon firing.

In the absence of a nearby facility, they are taken to Jamnagar under the South Western Air Command costing the exchequer Rs 110 crore each year.

In March 2003, the Air Force Station Bidar assessed the land requirement of over 2000 acres for the firing range. Eight years later, the Karnataka government identified 2006 acres of land – 1270 acres of private land and 736 acres of forest land.

The project cost was initially estimated just under Rs 50 crore, but it shot up to Rs 309 crore after a new Land Acquisition Act was passed in 2013. Even then the IAF was in favour of the investment with internal estimates showing that it would take about three years to recover the funding.

The IAF in April 2015 requested the Defence Ministry to sanction the money, but there was no response for seven years after which the service moved a fresh proposal in November 2022 with reduced land requirement.