Kushinagar international airport project in UP to take wings

The proposed international airport at Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, bordering Nepal and Bihar would be the first 'destination airport' in the region.

The international airport project, which has been hanging fire for almost a decade over successive regimes, both at the Centre and the state, would be part of the 'Heritage Tourism Circuit' launched by the central government in December 2015.

Replying in Parliament on May 2, union minister of state for civil aviation and tourism Mahesh Sharma had said that the central and UP governments would now jointly work towards the project and that most formalities had been completed.

Lord Buddha is believed to have attained 'Nirvana' at Kushinagar and is thus a principal Buddhist tourism site. However, there is no direct air connectivity, which affects tourism.

The popular Buddhist Tourism Circuit comprises several districts in Eastern UP and adjoining areas in Bihar, including Kushinagar, Sarnath (Varanasi), Kaushambi, Shravasti and Kapilvastu.

The proposed airport is aimed at connecting the Circuit directly with countries accounting for maximum tourist arrivals viz. Japan, Myanmar, Korea, China, Thailand, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, besides domestic tourists. Kushinagar has an existing airstrip spanning 97 acres to handle small aircraft.

The Kushingar international airport was estimated to cost about Rs 354 crore under public private partnership (PPP). In January 2014, the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet had cleared the project under Design Build Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) basis and approved the final bid document.

The bidders, who had previously qualified the technical bid stage in March 2013, included GMR, Essel, Gammon India, etc. The state government had acquired 550 acres for the purpose. The airport with a runway of 3,200 metres was estimated to serve about 2,50,000 tourists annually.

It was touted to be India's first airport wherein the Centre had given in-principle approval for viability gap funding (VGF) of 20%.

However, the project failed to evoke much interest from private developers in later stages and it was decided to hand over the project to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for development.

Under the 'Swadesh Darshan' scheme, 13 thematic circuits have been identified for development, including North East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

"Kushinagar would be a destination airport and would definitely have a positive impact on air travel in the region," Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) regional head Kapil Kaul told Business Standard.

He claimed the nearest Lucknow and Patna airports were already near saturation points and there was an urgent need for upgradation and newer airports.

"The airports projects in India get much delayed. Such projects should be fast tracked to meet timelines," he added.