New Delhi: On his second day of Delhi visit, Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday met civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and sought an expedition in the process to develop five domestic airports in Telangana—at Basantnagar, Mamnoor, Adilabad, Jakranpally, Devarkadra, and Kothagudem.
The Telangana government had made the proposal to build airports earlier in 2014, when the state was formed.
In a letter to the minister, KCR said that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had already taken up the obstacle limitation surface survey (OLS), soil testing, and other investigations at the proposed domestic airports. “The final reports are yet to be given,” he added.
KCR also urged the minister to help the state government in finalizing the sites besides granting all statutory clearances on a single-window basis. “I request the Ministry of Civil Aviation to expedite the process and do the required hand-holding with the state government in finalizing the sites and getting all statutory clearances on a single-window basis so that the state government can commence the infrastructure work at the earliest for starting the Non-Scheduled Operator’s Permit (NSOP) operations with its own funds,” KCR wrote.
The CM attached the old letter that he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. “The newly formed State of Telangana requires additional air connectivity for its overall growth. It has only one airport at Hyderabad. The government of India is requested to take initiative to set up five, new airports at Adilabad, Warangal, Kothagudem, Nizamabad and, Shamirpet (north of Hyderabad). Some of these places have old airstrips, which may be made use of to establish regular airports,” the letter read.
Earlier on Friday, KCR also met home minister Amit Shah and union water resources minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. KCR reportedly urged Shah to release the financial aid of Rs 1,358 crore towards Hyderabad flood relief. KCR is on a three-day visit to New Delhi and is likely to meet the Prime Minister too.