PUDUCHERRY: The union territory government is moving on the fast track for the expansion of Puducherry Airport runway, and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) in the process of preparing a Detailed Project report (DPR) as per the revised Master plan finalised by the government.
The present runway, which is 1500 x 30 metres, is capable of handling smaller aircraft like ATR48/72 & Q400. It is proposed to be expanded to 3330x45 metres so that it will be suitable for operations of A321 type aircraft.
The technical team of Airport Authority of India had visited Puducherry in January 2022 and assessed the minimum land requirement and other infrastructure needed. "Accordingly, the Master Plan has been prepared which involves land acquision of 30 acres in Puducherry and 395 acres in Tamil Nadu in two phases," Puducherry Civil Aviation and Tourism minister K Lakshminarayanan told The New Indian Express.
In phase one , the runway will be extended by 1760m x 45m (suitable for the operation of ATR-72/ Q-400 type aircraft for IFR operations) which involves land acquisition of 150.5 acres of which 30 acres is in Puducherry and 121.5 acres is in Tamil Nadu.
In phase two, 273.5 acres will be acquired in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has already identified 370.13 acres of land and has given an initial cost estimate of Rs 300 crore for these identified land.
As the land is low-lying from the existing runway, filling will be required approximately for 60 feet for the entire stretch of 1830 x 45 metres of the runway.
Out of the total 30 acres of land required from the Puducherry jurisdiction, 28.5 acres have been identified, in which around 20 acres are with the the Puducherry government. The remaining 8.5 acres of land in Puducherry are private land and there are around 60 residential buildings existing there.
As per the present estimate the land acquisition cost for the entire runway expansion will be around Rs 425 crore, said Lakshminarayanan.
In response to Puducherry government's letter to avail funding for the project , the Ministry of Home Affairs (UT Division), replied that the proposal was examined in the light of revised Master Plan with minimum land requirement conveyed by AAI and cost estimation proposal for acquisition of land from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments.
Further, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Aviation in April and May respectively, requested AAI to fumish a Detailed Project Report (DPR) duly vetted by Ministry of Civil Aviation for further action, said Lakshminarayanan. Already the Central government has accepted to fund the project, he added.