By IANS,
New Delhi : Proposals for four new airports in Karnataka secured the first set of approvals from a designated authority Friday, which met for the first time after it was set up in April.
The Steering Committee on Greenfield Airports, chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla, cleared the Karnataka government’s proposal for the new airports at Gulbarga, Bijapur, Hassan and Shimoga, an official statement said after the meeting.
The state capital Bangalore, also called India’s IT hub, already has a new airport that commenced operations May 23.
The committee, which has given its in-principle approval to the four proposals, was constituted to coordinate and monitor clearances for new airports in the country.
The projects, however, would now require other approvals and clearances – including those from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Airports Authority of India and various security establishments.
The defence ministry’s nod is also mandatory since the air space at Gulbarga and Bijapur are under the Indian Air Force, officials explained.
The four projects will now go through three more stages of clearances – first for the site of the project, then for the detailed project report and finally for the actual licence from the regulator.
“The progress of the project after grant of ‘in-principle’ approval would be monitored by the Steering Committee and if adequate progress in implementation of the project is not made within 12 months from grant of the ‘in principle’ approval the said approval would be withdrawn,” said the statement.