Karnataka starts homework on second airport for Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday set the ball rolling on setting up a second airport for Bengaluru, which Industries & Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil said is imperative given the city's growth and future challenges.

Patil chaired a meeting with top officials from his department. He asked his officials to prepare a report on establishing a second airport for the state capital.

In a statement, Patil said Bengaluru cannot get a second airport until 2033. "At the time of setting up the Kempegowda International Airport, the government signed a 25-year agreement with the Bengaluru International Airport Ltd that another airport will not come up in a 150-km radius. This condition will expire in nine years. We need to start work on the second airport right now," the minister said.

Patil said that the Kempegowda International Airport is India's third-busiest after Delhi and Mumbai. "Last year, the Bengaluru airport handled 37.5 million passengers and four lakh tonnes of goods. Going by this load, a second airport is necessary," he said.

"Bengaluru's population has already crossed one crore. The city is home to global companies. The current airport is also servicing nearby districts as well as some districts of Andhra Pradesh. By 2033, the passenger capacity will be maxed out. Even the quantum of goods will reach its capacity by 2040," Patil said.

Setting up a second airport for Bengaluru will take time, especially land acquisition and compensation. "So, we need to get working now. The second airport will also take industrial development beyond Bengaluru," he said.

In 2020, the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) asked the government to set up a second airport for the state capital. The preferred location for the airport was somewhere between Ramanagara and Channapatna.

Home Minister G Parameshwara is pushing for an international airport at his Tumakuru district. Over 8,000 acres of land spread over Tumakuru, Koratagere, Madhugiri and Sira taluks are available for the airport, he had said in January this year.