Jharsuguda Airport To Be Developed By June 2018

Bhubaneswar: The development process of Jharsuguda Airport would be completed by June 2018, said an official on Tuesday.

The airport being developed by Airport Authority of India (AAI) was scheduled to be completed by May 2018.

Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Tuesday took a review meeting on the progress of development of Jharsuguda Airport.

Bhubaneswar airport director-in-charge Loknath Padhi said there was a delay in land acquisition while the construction of boundary wall for the airport is yet to be completed.

The airport would be developed on 112 acres of land.

Notably, the Odisha government had signed an agreement with AAI on July 30, 2014, to develop the airstrip at an estimated cost of Rs 210 crore to make it the state’s second largest operational airport, after Biju Patnaik International Airport.

While the state government would fund Rs 75 crore, AAI would provide the remaining Rs 135 crore to develop the airport.

Initially, the runway will be expanded from 6,000 ft to 9,000 ft making it possible for A-320 Airbus planes to land on the Jharsuguda airport.