Govt to auction 670 acres of excess land acquired for Airport

Bangalore, May 9 (UNI) The Karnataka Government has decided to auction over 670 acres of excess land acquired earlier for the Bangalore International Airport, Chief Secretary P B Mahishi said today.

Speaking to newspersons here, he said the condition was that the successful bidder has to develop the land in accordance with the Airport authorities guidelines around the International Airport.

The Karnataka State Small Industries Investment Development Corporation (KSSIIDC) has been entrusted to deal with the additional land and it had already allotted about 27 acres to Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) which would utilise the land for construction of conference hall, hotel, information centre and other related infrastructure, he added.

Mr Mahishi said the Bangalore International Airport, the country's first green-field Airport project, was expected to be ready well in advance. The present six-lane highway connecting the city to the new International Airport would also be ready ahead of the schedule.

The state government also approved another parallel link road to the Devanahalli International Airport, he said, adding work on this road was progressing well.

Replying to questions, Mr Mahishi said the state government was not lagging behind in implementing several Centrally-sponsored schemes including Employment Guarantee Act Scheme and National Horticulture Mission.

He said the government is in constant touch with the Railway authorities to complete all the joint venture projects including Gadag-Bijapur broad-gauge works. ''The government never failed in releasing its contribution under the Karnataka Railway Infrastructure Development project'', he added.

UNI