On Saturday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao urged Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, to speed up the process of setting up five more airports in Telangana and to do the required hand-holding in finalising the sites with the State Government, apart from obtaining all statutory clearances on a single-window basis.

In a letter submitted to Singh during his visit to New Delhi, the Chief Minister stated that once the legislative approvals have been issued, the State Government can begin work on the infrastructure as early as possible to start operations with its own funds under the Non-Scheduled Operator's Permit (NSOP).

He noted that soon after the formation of Telangana in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed that a couple of airports be built in the State, as there is only one airport in Hyderabad.

Listed Areas for Additional Airports

The State Government has undertaken work for developing additional domestic airports at

• Basantnagar in Peddapally district
• Mamnoor in Warangal Urban district
• Adilabad district
• Jakranpally in Nizamabad district
• Devarkadra in Mahabubnagar district
• Bhadradri-Kothagudem district.

A formal request for feasibility reports was submitted to the AAI in 2018 based on consultations with the Chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI). It was suggested that only no-frills airports for small aircraft would be built to start with, which could be extended in future for demand-based commercial operations.

Although the AAI and some draft reports have already taken up the Obstacle Limitation Surface Survey, soil testing and other examinations at the sites have recently arrived, the final reports have yet to be announced.

By: Shailaja K