The Airports Authority of India has evaluated five locations, including the existing Hosur airstrip of the Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL), for the proposed airport at Hosur. A draft report has also been submitted in this regard.
The sites are: 2 km south of Hosur airstrip located very close to TAAL; 10 km south of Hosur airstrip near Thogarai Agraharam; 27 km south east of Hosur airstrip near Ulagam (close to Shoolagiri); 16 km north east of Hosur airport near Dhasapalli.
Sources said AAI team visited all the sites two months ago and had given a draft of the prefeasibility study with the pros and cons of each site. “There will be a discussion shortly between Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and AAI. From the five, two will be shortlisted and AAI will delve further into the two sites and the final report will be submitted shortly,” a source said.
There are quite a few challenges in each of these sites. In one of the sites, a waterbody is running and in two sites high tension lines are installed. TAAL and the second site lying 2 km south of TAAL are perhaps some of the better options without major issues. Of course, there will be detailed discussions with AAI, another source said. “Another important issue is, the State government needs to get the approval from the Ministry of Defence for this project as the airspace is controlled by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,” he added.
As more investments are coming its way, the State government had proposed an airport at Hosur sprawling over an area of 2,000 acres some months back and plans are afoot to turn Hosur into an important industrial hub. With second airport in Bengaluru is in discussion, the Tamil Nadu government too is trying to speed up the Hosur airport project.
“The agreement between the Centre and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) indicates that another international airport cannot be established within 150 km aerial distance but this ends in a decade. It will anyway take about eight years to get clearances and set up the Hosur airport. It is possible to overcome this hurdle,” he said
Published - November 20, 2024 07:23 pm IST
