Hosur airport not recommended to prioritise defence projects of national importance, says Civil Aviation Minister

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said on Monday that the Hosur airport project proposal mooted by Tamil Nadu has not been recommended “in order to prioritise defence projects of national importance” executed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport.

He was responding to a question raised by DMK MP S. Kalyanasundaram in the Rajya Sabha on whether the Centre has examined the Hosur airport proposal sent by the State government and the reasons for the delay in granting in-principle approval, airspace clearance and other such permissions. His party colleague Kanimozhi N.V.N Somu too posed a similar query.

Mr. Naidu said: “In order to prioritise defence projects of national importance, being carried out by HAL Airport and to enable operational preparedness of defence forces, the proposal has not been recommended.”

In November last year, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) sent the site-clearance for the Hosur airport. “The proposal was circulated to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for comments/observations,” Mr. Naidu added.

Before that, in June, TIDCO had requested the MoD for airspace relaxation to construct the Hosur airport. When it was rejected, the Tamil Nadu government yet again wrote to the Centre, but it was turned down again in January. Sources said the State government had been drafting a justification for this project and will resubmit the request soon.