Chief Minister Stalin announced that a new airport would be set up on 2,000 acres at Hosur on the Karnataka-Tamil border. As a result, the construction of the 2nd new airport near Bangalore is now heating up. As Karnataka is said to be keen to bring a 2nd airport near Bangalore to compete with Hosur, the explanation given by the state’s infrastructure minister MP Patil has drawn attention.
On the 27th of last month, Chief Minister Stalin made announcements under Article 110 in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Then, “Hosur has been attracting more and more investments in the electronics and electric vehicle manufacturing sector in the last few years. Thus, the Government of Tamil Nadu is currently implementing various visionary projects with the aim of setting up modern infrastructure to make the fast-growing city of Hosur an important economic development center of Tamil Nadu.
As such, a master for the city of Ossur has been prepared and is nearing completion. This Government considers it necessary to establish an airport at Hosur to help the overall socio-economic development of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri region, not just Hosur. I am announcing that an international airport will be set up in Hosur on two thousand acres of land, capable of handling 30 million passengers per year.
Ever since Chief Minister Stalin made this announcement, the Karnataka government became nervous. Because of the space crunch in Bengaluru, many companies are moving to the nearby suburbs. In that way companies are coming to Hosur too. At this time, the Karnataka government thinks that if an international airport is established in Hosur, it will cause problems for the economy of Karnataka and especially for the development of Bengaluru.
This is why the Karnataka government has taken up the plan to build a 2nd airport in Bengaluru after announcing that an airport would be set up in Hosur. Karnataka’s Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister MB Patil held a consultation with the dignitaries in this regard at Vidhan Sowda in Bangalore yesterday. He later said in an interview:
Bangalore Kempegowda International Airport is the 3rd largest airport in the country. Bangalore is the next largest airport after Delhi and Mumbai. 52 million (one million equals 10 lakhs.. so 5.20 crore passengers) passengers come and go to Bangalore airport every year. 0.71 million tonnes of cargo has been handled. The airport expansion will be able to handle 110 million passengers per year and 1.10 million tonnes. The airport will reach its peak capacity by 2035.
This airport cannot be expanded further. This necessitates a 2nd airport. Generally, a new airport cannot be established within a distance of 150 km. But there are no such conditions in Mumbai and Delhi. Therefore, the Karnataka government is going to start the construction of the 2nd airport. We are going to start surveying at 6 places including Mysuru Road, Magadi, Thapaspet, Jigini, Dumakuru, Kanakapura. The new airport should also be built on the scale of Kempegowda Airport in Bangalore. This will require 4,500 acres to 5,000 acres of land,” he said.
This is the current controversy. Because all the places where the Karnataka government has chosen to build the airport are very close to Hosur. Especially Gigini is only 26 kilometers away. Although the Karnataka Minister mentioned 6 places, it is said that since Hosur Airport will compete with Bangalore Airport, they will try to set up an airport at Gigini.
A journalist asked Minister MB Patil about this. That is, the Tamil Nadu government is going to construct a new airport at Hosur near Bangalore. What do you think about this?” he asked. Minister MP Patil said, “When will the Tamil government build an airport in Hosur? We announced later. And it is their state. They can decide. Similarly we can decide in our state. This is our decision. “I don’t want to comment on their (Tamil Nadu) decision,” he said.
