Mangalore, June 13: Karnataka government is ready to provide additional lands to Airport Authority of India for expansion of the runway at Bajpe Airport, state Minister for Infrastructure Development and Civil Aviation T John said. AAI had requested the state government for additional 136 acres of land for expansion of the runway at airport, he told reporters here today.
Government was ready to provide as many acres as possible, he said, adding AAI had already prepared a masterplan in this regard. Out of 230.59 acres of land acquired, 221.13 acres had been handed over to AAI, he said. About 9.46 acres of land was still to be handed over to AAI and necessary arrangements had been made to hand over the remaining lands soon, he added.
The Centre had spent about Rs 50 lakh while the state government had contributed Rs 12.18 crore for the expansion work, he said.
So far, an amount of Rs 975 lakh had been spent on the project, the minister said, adding a notification would be issued soon to clear the expansion work for the runway. Since the port was very close to the airport, government was contemplating making Bajpe Airport come up to international standards, the minister said.
The Centre had approved construction of a four-lane road connecting port to the airport by providing a grant of Rs 17.5 crore, he said, adding Rs two crore had already been received by the state government. Bureau Report