Karnataka's Civil Aviation ministry awaits consent to operate flights from Ballari and Kolar under UDAN scheme

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Tuesday said that his ministry was ready to operate small passenger aircrafts from Ballari and Kolar air strips under UDAN scheme, if the state agreed to it.

“Under UDAN 5.2, bids have been received for small aircraft operations (less than 20-seaters) for Ballari and Kolar airstrips”.

The ministry has requested the state government to give consent and confirm the availability of land for the development of these airports,” he told the Rajya Sabha, in reply to a question by Lahar Singh Siroya (BJP).

“The state has to ensure that land is provided free of cost and free
from encumbrances, and is suitable for operating small aircraft (2B) initially, with potential for future expansion to category 3C. The actual timelines for airport projects depend on various factors like land acquisition, mandatory clearances and removal of obstacles”.

“In Karnataka,  7 airports - Bidar, Mysuru, Vijayanagar, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Belagavi and Shivamogga are operationalized under regional connectivity scheme (RCS-UDAN). The airstrips - namely Ballari, Kolar, Kushalnagar (Kodagu district), Raichur and Hassan - are unserved airports available in UDAN scheme document for bidding,” the minister said.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Karnataka received Rs 46,932.72 crore from the Centre as its share in central taxes and duties in 2024-25.

Replying to BJP’s Eranna Kadadi, he told the House that in 2022-23 fiscal, the state received Rs 34,596.18 crore, while in 2023-24, a total of Rs 41,193 crore was released.

Under other specific grants, the Centre released Rs 6,826 crore to the state, he said.

As many as 125 out of the total 6,291 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACSs) in Karnataka were under
liquidation, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha.

Replying to Congress’ G Kumar Naik (Raichur), the minister said, out of 125 PACSs, 28 cooperatives were in Chikkaballapur, followed by 13 in Hassan and 12 in Belagavi.

According to Shah, 64 PACSs are non-functional/dormant. In the last five years, 428 new PACSs were registered in the state, with the highest 187 in Belagavi, he said in a written reply.

The minister said National Cooperative Development Corporation disbursed Rs 25.56 crore to PACSs in Karnataka, in the five years till 2024-25.