The Indian aviation industry is going through a transformational change, with the government not only implementing multiple policies to ease air travel, but focusing on developing world-class infrastructure. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new integrated terminal building (NITB) of the Veer Savarkar International Airport at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A few days back, the Aviation Minister of India, Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the fourth runway at the Delhi International Airport, making it the only airport to get 4 runways along with India’s first dual elevated taxiway.
Apart from these expansion activities across airports in India, the government is building a number of new airports, putting India on the top of the global aviation map. Civil Aviation Minister Scindia recently said that India will have 200 airports in the next 5 years. He said that while in 68 years, 74 airports were made operational, the PM Modi-led BJP govt has made the equal number of airports operational in last 9 years, taking the total number of airports to 148. Here’s a list of the Top 5 upcoming airports in India:
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1) Noida International Airport – Jewar, Uttar Pradesh
The upcoming greenfield airport in Jewar, called the Noida International Airport is easily the biggest airport project currently in progress in India, developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG. Being the second airport in Delhi-NCR, the Noida Airport is expected to ease high traffic load at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
The construction of the airport started in 2021 and the first phase is expected to be operational by 2024. Initially, a runway will be made operational, and the airport will have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers, before slowly expanding to become a 60 million passenger airport. It will improve the connectivity between Noida, Western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and NCR.
2) Navi Mumbai International Airport – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Another big and ambitious project for India is the second airport in the Mumbai region, the Navi Mumbai International Airport, which will work alongside the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the second busiest airport in India. The airport is expected to ease the load on the Mumbai Airport and will have domestic, international and cargo terminals.
Based on a land patch of over 1,000-hectare, the airport is expected to handle 25 million passengers a year once the first phase is operational by 2025. The airport will be made functional in three phases and is being made by the City and Industrial Development Corporation along with the Adani Airports Holdings Limited.
3) Bhogapuram International Airport – Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
The Bhogapuram Airport, also known as the GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport is a major upcoming airport coming in Andhra Pradesh, in the port city of Visakhapatnam. The airport will be the first major airport in the region and is owned by GMR Group, the group behind the Delhi and Hyderabad Airports. It is being made in public-private partnership with Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation (APADCL) and the government of Andhra Pradesh.
While there’s an existing airport in Visakhapatnam, it is being run by the Indian Navy. Once the new airport is constructed, Indian Navy will move the existing Visakhapatnam Airport civil enclave to Bhogapuram. The construction of the airport began in 2023 and is expected to be completed in early 2025. The airport will have one terminal and one 3,800m long runway, with 6 million passenger capacity in the Phase 1.
4) Purandar Airport – Pune, Maharashtra
The Purandar Airport is an upcoming airport in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, and the first international airport for the region. The current Pune airport is a civil enclave inside the Lohegaon facility co-shared by the Indian Air Force and has limitations of operating flights after certain hours. The necessity to have an international airport in Pune was decided a long time back, but there’s still no on-ground work initiated.
This Greenfield project has been stalled due to multiple site clearances and pending approvals and is located near Saswad and Jejuri in Pune’s Puranadar Taluka and would be owned by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) would be in charge of the airport’s operations and management.
5) Shivamogga Airport – Shimoga, Karnataka
Last on our list is the Shivamogga Airport in Karnataka, which was inaugurated six months back on February 27 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The commercial operations in the airport are likely to begin from August 11, 2023 Industries Minister M B Patil said Thursday. This will be the first airport in Karnataka to be run by the state government. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has handed over it to Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation for operation and maintenance.
“Since operations at the airport will begin from August 11, all preparations will be made by July 20,” he said. Among the pending works include deputing ambulance and other essential vehicles for the airport, opening a cafe, and a few appointments of technical and non-technical staff.