Lok Sabha Question No. 17 (STARRED), answered on 2026-01-29
Subject: Operationalisation of Airports
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara, Shri Khagen Murmu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. : 17

(To be answered on the 29 th January 2026)

## OPERATIONALISATION OF AIRPORTS

## *17. DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA SHRI KHAGEN MURMU

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:-

- (a) the details of the Navi Mumbai International Airport inaugurated in October 2025 with  regard  to  its  passenger  and  cargo  carrying  capacity,  key  facilities  and  the expected  impact  on  regional  aviation  connectivity;  (b)  the  number  of  greenfield airports  currently  under  development  in  the  country  along  with  the  expected timelines  set  for  their  operationalisation;  (c)  the  details  of  the  greenfield  airport proposed to be developed in Palghar district of Maharashtra and the progress made therein so far;
- (d) the steps being taken by the Government to ensure sustainable aviation practices at  newly  developed  airports  including  integration  of  solar  power  capacity  and development  of Sustainable Aviation Fuel infrastructure; (e) the details of employment  generation  and  economic  benefits  anticipated  from  these  airport projects; and
- (f)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  start  regular  flights  from  Manpur airstrip in Rajasthan and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

(  Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu  )

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (F)  OF  LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  17*  FOR  REPLY  ON  29.01.2026 REGARDING "OPERATIONALISATION OF AIRPORTS" ASKED BY DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA AND SHRI KHAGEN MURMU

- (a): Navi Mumbai International Greenfield Airport airport is spread over an area of 1160 hectares, having passenger terminal building of 2,34,797 sqm and 3700 meter long runway along with other utilities and infrastructure. The airport has capacity to handle 20 million passengers annually (MPPA) and 0.8 Million Metric Tons of cargo per annum. The airport has started flight operations to 13 domestic destinations, as on 21.01.2026.
- (b)  & (c):    Under Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, Government of India (GoI) has accorded "In-Principle'' approval for setting up of 24 Greenfield Airports across the country. Out of these, 13 Greenfield airports have been operationalised. As per GFA Policy, the responsibility for implementation of the Greenfield airport project  lies  with  the  Project  Proponent.  Also,  the  timeline  for  completion  of  the airport projects depends upon several factors such as land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances including environmental clearances, financial closure etc.

Proposal seeking 'Site Clearance' as per GFA Policy has not been received from any airport developer or State Government concerned for development of a Greenfield Airport in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

- (d):  Airport  operators  with  scheduled  operations  have  been  advised  to  map  the carbon emission at their respective airports and to work towards carbon neutrality & net zero emission in a phased manner. Airports are participating in Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme of Airports Council International (ACI), which is a voluntary global carbon management standard for airports.

Renewable  Energy  (RE)  sources  help  in  reducing  Carbon  emissions  at  airports, thereby  helping  in  achieving  carbon  neutrality.  The  airport  operators  including Airports Authority of India (AAI) have installed solar power plants for generation and self-consumption of green and  renewable energy  to  encourage  green  energy usage  at  the  airports.  In  addition,  few  airports  are  also  procuring  green  energy through open access.

The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) has informed that Public Sector Oil companies are engaged in setting up pilot/commercial scale facilities to produce Sustainable  Aviation  Fuel  (SAF)  including  standalone  as  well  as  co-processing plants. The Government has approved indicative blending targets of 1% by 2027,

2% by 2028, and 5% by 2030 for SAF in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), initially for international flights.

- (e): Airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have multiplier effect  on  the  economy of the State.  Development of airports leads to increase in passenger movements, tourism development, employment generation and augmentation  in  circle  rates  of  land  valuation  leading  to  enhanced  collection  of various taxes/stamp duties etc., in the respective State and in the overall development of the Country. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) study shows that the air connectivity has an economic multiplier of 3.25 and employment multiplier of 6.1.
- (f):  Under  the  RCS-UDAN  Scheme,  unserved  and  underserved  airstrips  are identified for development and operationalisation through a demand based bidding mechanism.

The Abu Road (Manpur) airstrip in Rajasthan is included in the tentative list  of unserved airports in the UDAN document for bidding. If any airline submits a valid bid for connecting Manpur (Abu Road) airstrip in forthcoming rounds of bidding, the  same  shall  be  considered  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  UDAN scheme.

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