Govt to acquire 93 acres more for airport expansion

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 24 (UNI) Kerala Law Minister M Vijayakumar today said the state government will acquire an additional 93 acres of land for the second phase expansion of the international airport here.

Talking to newspersons, he said the first phase of the expansion programme of the airport on 27 acres would be completed by this year.

Mr Vijayakumar said the Centre had already sanctioned Rs 245 crore for the first phase and would provide Rs 255 crore after the master plan for the second phase was ready. This would be the last time that the Centre was providing financial support for airport development in the country, he added.

Stating that the state government would acquire another 137 acres for the development of Kozhikode airport, he said it would also acquire 2,200 acres for the proposed airport in Kannur.

Pointing out that the government had a plan to elevate the Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy into a training centre, he said it had purchased two planes for the purpose, which would be operationalised from March one.

I have urged the Centre to consider the state's demand for a new Railway Zone and hope that the demand would be favourably considered in the coming railway budget, he added.

UNI CGV SJ AE KN1947