Hyderabad: In a major push to expand aviation infrastructure in Telangana, civil aviation minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday announced that the proposed airport in Adilabad will be developed with the ministry of defence as the nodal agency, marking a significant step forward for the long-pending project. He said that a joint team from the defence and civil aviation ministries and the state govt will inspect the airport’s 300-acre land parcel on April 17.Addressing a press conference alongside Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy in Delhi, he said the defence ministry will also operate a training facility at the site. He also revealed that the feasibility report for Peddapalli airport is positive, while Kothagudem did not meet viability criteria. “We held a review meeting with defence minister Rajnath Singh, state govt officials, and representatives from the civil aviation ministry. The defence minister assured us that he would fully support the project to build an airport in Adilabad. The civil aviation ministry will manage the civilian terminal at the proposed airport. Having a training facility will provide a significant boost to the project,” Naidu said. “Once the joint team files a report, we will prepare the detailed project report within the next two to three months. After that, we will lay the foundation stone, but the state govt also needs to provide land parcels. They have agreed to cooperate with land procurement,” he said.Drawing parallels with other defence-linked airports, he said the model would be similar, with civilian operations handled separately. He said the airport will aim to handle A320 Airbus aircraft initially. Reiterating the Centre’s broader vision, he said India aims to scale up from 165 to over 356 airports by 2047, with plans to introduce Udaan cafes across airports.
