Union minister for civil aviation Choudhury Ajit Singh has written to UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav seeking a proposal for establishing a new greenfield International airport in Mathura.
The UP government had proposed a Taj International Aviation Hub (TIAH) with a greenfield airport at Jewar, which is at a distance of about 70 km from the India Gandhi International Airport.
The matter was referred to the group of ministers and there were legal and policy issues in approving a new airport within 150 km of another operational airport. The issue, therefore, remained unresolved for five years.
In his letter, the Union minister has welcomed the state government’s decision to scrap the originally-planned international airport at Jewar as part of the Taj International Aviation Hub (TIAH) and said that his ministry will treat as top priority if UP sends a request for the proposed greenfield airport at Mathura.
However, the minister said that in order to boost tourism in the Agra-Mathura sector and to speed up industrial development in the region, an international airport was needed in the area. “The airport of TIAH should be located near the Taj in such a way that it does not have any airspace conflict the IAF airport and should not have any legal or policy issues either,” the minister said in the letter.
The minister has recommended a location at Mathura that should be near the expressway and has assured a quick clearance of the project if the state government sends such a proposal.
Earlier in May, the UP government had scrapped the ambitious greenfield international airport at Jewar, which was a crucial part of former chief minister Mayawati’s dream project, citing the decision to the Centre’s unwillingness to give clearances to the project.
The state government had also issued instructions to the local administrations to identify a new site for the international airport, conforming to the 150 km distance ruling. District magistrates of Agra and Mathura have been instructed to identify sites that are at least 150 km from the IGI Airport.
“The new airport will, tentatively, come up between Agra and Mathura. The search for the new site has started,” said A.K. Gupta, UP’s infrastructure and industrial development commissioner.
Incidentally, Mr Ajit Singh’s son, Jayant Choudhury, is the member of Parliament from the Matura Lok Sabha seat.