AAI to open up space for business near Bhubaneswar airport

The AAI will spend Rs 250 crore on upgradation of the Bhubaneswar international airport

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has proposed to establish an airport business district close to the Bhubaneswar airport. The project is supposed to come up in a vacant area that is spread across 60 acres near the international airport in Bhubaneswar. It has the potential to attract investments of around Rs 25,000 crore, while generating employment for 35,000 people.

AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra discussed the proposal for the airport business district on Tuesday  among with Odisha's chief secretary Aditya Padhi and a group top bureaucrats. The chief secretary has urged AAI to formulate a specific plan in consultation with the Bhubaneswar Development Authority.

Mohapatra said, AAI will spend Rs 250 crore on upgradation of the Bhubaneswar international airport, adding new facilities. 

According to the AAI chief, full-scale operations at the Jharsuguda airport are targeted to begin by April 2018, which is eight months ahead of its previous timeline of December. 

Bibhuti Pattnaik, collector of the Jharsuguda reagion, said a tender has been issued for the construction of road to the airport. The state government has also handed over 296.5 acres of land to the AAI. Apart from this the porject would witness an investmnet of Rs. 210 crore.

The terminal building at the Jharsuguda airport would be constructed to accomodate 300 passengers.

The AAI also discussed several issues related to the project such as providing adequate amounts of power and water at the airport, improving road connectivity, deployment of security forces and fire personnel, ensuring forest clearance for balance land and the raising of boundary walls aorund the airport area.