Hirasar near Rajkot in Gujarat to get a greenfield airport! The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently approved the development of a new greenfield airport in the Hirasar district, about 28 km from Rajkot, in Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 1405 crore. The greenfield airport will be developed keeping in mind the renewable sources of energy like solar and wind energy. According to the government release, the estimated cost of Rs 1405 crore involves development and maintenance operations of the greenfield airport to be built at Hirasar.
The existing airport at Rajkot is severely land constrained with just 236 acres of land. It is situated in the heart of city. The existing Rajkot airport is also the fourth busiest airport in the state and suffers from considerable capacity restraints due to the presence of residential as well as commercial buildings around it. A railway line and a state highway located around this airport on the eastern side also prohibit the extension of the runway. Hence due to these limitations, there is no feasibility to expand the airport on the city or on airside, so the possibility of operating wide bodied aircrafts or big-sized airplanes at the existing airport location is also eliminated.
