Odisha plans five new airports

The Odisha government has proposed to develop greenfield airports in five locations in an effort to boost intra-state and inter-state civil aviation facilities.

The five airports will come up in the industrial hubs of Rayagada, Paradip, Dhamara, Angul and Kalinganagar, a senior official said adding proposals were also on the anvil to upgrade existing airfields at Gopalpur, Jharsuguda, Barbil and Rourkela.

The state-owned IPICOl in association with the Civil Aviation Department has initiated a road map for facilitating investment in aviation related activities to boost intra and inter-state trade and tourism.

"A road map has been prepared for a period of 10 years from 2012-13 to 2022-23. The proposed areas of development range from creation of night parking facility and hinterland connectivity to establishment of aero city and refueling Hub," the official said.

The state also set a target of creating milestones like domestic terminal and connectivity, setting up of aviation training institutes, operationalisation of international flight, development of cargo hub and airline base, the sources said.

The state presently has 17 airstrips and 16 helipads. The government has also identified nine locations in the state to be connected through civil aviation facility.

Odisha is connected with other parts of the country through airlines like Air India, Jet Airways and Indigo. While Jet Airways has connectivity to Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, Indigo is linked to Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Vishakhpatnam.

Air India has connectivity to Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

"We are working on on operation of flights to establish connectivity to other cities like Raipur, Patna, Bhopal and Ranchi," the official said.

He said a high-level meeting, chaired by chief secretary B K Patnaik, was held recently on the matter.

Photograph: Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters