New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradidtya Scindia on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that as many as 146 running airports are operational in the country including includes 135 airports, 2 Water aerodromes, and 9 Heliports. The Aviation Minister shared this information via a written reply in response to a question from Congress MP Adoor Prakash asking for the total number of airports state-wise in the country.
As per the statistics mentioned by Minister Scindia, Maharashtra has the maximum number with 14 airports, followed by 13 each in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Uttarakhand, and 9 in Karnataka. Out of eight northeastern states, only Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have 7 and 4 airports respectively while the remaining 6 have only 1.
To a question on the status of Green Fields Airports, Scindia pointed out that the Government of India (GoI) has accorded 'In-Principle' approval under Greenfield Airports Policy (GFA) for setting up 21 Greenfield Airports namely, Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh" and others have been granted 'In-Principle' approval during the last 7 years.
Out of these 21 Greenfield airports, 9 airports viz. Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar, and Donyi Polo, Itanagar have been operationalized, he added.
