BHUBANESWAR: In a major push to the state government’s proposed Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has accorded the final environmental clearance to the project, removing a major hurdle in its implementation.
The greenfield airport will be developed over 471.348 hectare area at Sipasarubali in the district. Puri collector Dibya Jyoti Parida on Tuesday told mediapersons that the proposed airport project has received both EC and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance from the ministry.
He said forest-related issues pertaining to the project have been cleared and they are now waiting for the final approval from the ministry to go ahead with the project.
Sources said the state government now awaits an NOC from the ministry, while it will also move the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for its approval to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) to take up construction work of the airport.
Steps for commencement of construction work for the project will be taken in coordination with the AAI and the Transport department authorities, the collector said.
The MoEFCC had earlier granted Stage-I (in-principle) approval under the provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 for diversion of around 27.887 ha of forest land in the Puri Wildlife Division for construction of the airport.
The approval had been given on the basis of the proposal submitted by the ministry’s Advisory Committee (AC). The committee, in its meeting on February 27, 2026, had said the approval has been granted on condition that the state government will ensure the user agency implements mitigation measures and other important recommendations derived from the impact assessment studies and site specific wildlife management plan developed as per the recommendations of Wildlife Institute of India and Zoological Survey of India.
The state had been asked to comply with 33 different conditions, including compensatory afforestation in 29.939 ha of non-forest land for grant of the stage-II (final) clearance.