Tier-II cities in Karnataka to make it to air map

Tier-II cities in Karnataka to make it to air map

Published: Monday, Jan 3, 2011, 10:47 IST 

By Hemanth CS | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

A new aviation policy which will shape to the state government’s dream of having enhanced air connectivity between the Tier II cities in Karnataka is all set to take off.

The policy which is likely to be cleared in the next cabinet meet is based on the guidelines of the state government’s Vision 2020, which bats for having airports and airstrips for every 100 km distance across the state.

Government sources said that the aviation policy which has been drafted by the infrastructure department in consultation with the civil aviation ministry is likely to be cleared at the next cabinet meeting.

The policy, which bats for implementing the projects through a public-private-partnership (PPP), aims at fasttracking the government plans to develop 11 airports, 13 airstrips and helipads in all the 30 districts of the state by the year 2014.

Among the 11 airports, five would be greenfield aerodromes and would come up at Hassan, Shimoga, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Bellary, while the Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli and Belgaum airports would be expanded.

The Karwar and Bidar airports, which are defence airports and are operated by the Navy and Air Force, respectively, will also be expanded.

Apart from the development and expansion of new and existing airports in the state, the aviation policy’s primary focus would also be to look at the operating and maintenance costs at the airport in Tier-II cities.

The policy might also suggest reducing tax on the air turbine fuel and also consider bearing or waiving of airport charges.