# Puri International Airport

Puri International Airport is a proposed international airport in the Indian state Odisha, which will primarily serve the Puri region. The airport will be built in public private partnership (PPP) mode near Sipasarubali and Sandhapur areas under Brahmagiri tehsil in Puri district. It will be developed in three phases at an estimated cost of Rs 5,631 crore. A six-lane, high-speed corridor between Biju Patnaik International Airport and proposed greenfield airport will also be built. This will shorten the travel time to 30 minutes. The location of the airport was chosen due to its close proximity to Puri and its famous Jagannath Temple and other tourist attractions. Spread over an area of 1,164 acres, Puri Airport will be operated as the first airport in the Puri city and the second international airport in Odisha. The Fairfax group, Adani Group and GMR Group expressed interest in developing the greenfield airport in April 2024.

## History

The need for an airport at Puri arose in 2021, when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up an international airport. The Government of Odisha's plan to set up the airport was granted site clearance by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) in 2023, one year after the Government of Odisha Submitted all requisites to the ministry, as per the Greenfield Airport Policy (GFA), 2008. On 20 November 2023, the Environment Appraisal Committee (Infra 2) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change recommends granting Terms of Reference (ToR) for preparation of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Report and Environment Management Plan (EMP) with Public Consultation for development of Greenfield Shree Jagannath International Airport by M/s Commerce and Transport (Transport) Department, Government of Odisha.
On 25 January 2024, Commerce and Transport Department, Government of Odisha applied for Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Approval. The tender for a public-private partnership (PPP) was floated by the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in February 2024. Odisha Coastal Zone Management Authority (OCZMA) after detail deliberation and discussion decided to recommend the proposal to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India for grant of composite Environment Clearance (EC) & Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Clearance for the Airport on 16th of March 2024.

### Land purchase

In June 2021, the officials of Airports Authority of India inspected the land identified for the Puri International Airport. A draft of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report on the proposed airport was prepared by the National Institute of Rural Development and Environmental Science under the Nabakrishna Chowdhury Center for Development Studies for acquisition of private land. In May 2023, Puri Sub-Collector Bhavataran Sahu organised the first public hearing at Sipasarubali Mauza to discuss the draft of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report before the acquisition of private land.
The Puri district administration has started the process for acquisition around 1,164 acres of land including 68 acres of forest and 221.48 acres private land at Sipasarubali and Sandhapur Mauza in 2023. The private land for the project was identified as 153.37 acres at Sipasarubali and 68.11 acres at Sandhapur.