Bengaluru's second airport to come up in south of city, announces DK Shivakumar

Karnataka has moved ahead with plans for Bengaluru's second airport in the city's southern corridor. The site will be chosen to limit costs, ensure feasibility and avoid displacing villages.

In Short

• Government aims to avoid village displacement for new airport
• Officials asked to submit proposal to central government soon
• AAI visited three shortlisted sites earlier for technical assessment

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said Bengaluru's second airport will come up in South Bengaluru as the state looks to decongest Kempegowda International Airport. He said officials have been asked to prepare a proposal for the central government after identifying a site where land cost is low, the terrain is not too hilly and the project is technically feasible.

Shivakumar said no specific site has been named yet, but the location will be in the southern part of the city, in line with sites proposed earlier. He also said the government does not want villages to be disturbed or residents to be displaced for the project.

The chief minister chaired a meeting on the proposed airport with Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil and senior officials. After the meeting, he told reporters, "Regarding the airport, we discussed what happened in the past. We asked to ensure that no villages are disturbed and villagers should not be displaced."

He added, "We asked officials to submit a proposal to the central government after considering a location where the land cost is low, which is technically feasible, and not too hilly." He further said, "We asked them to look for a location where land prices are low, so it doesn't burden the state government, and where no villages need to be displaced. A few scattered houses are not an issue, as they can be compensated, but villages should not be shifted for the project."

In the state budget presented in March, Siddaramaiah had said a second airport would be developed in Bengaluru to ease traffic at Kempegowda International Airport, which has emerged as the country's third-largest airport. He had said a feasibility report would be prepared after technical advice from the Airports Authority of India.

AAI officials have already visited the three sites shortlisted earlier for Bengaluru's second international airport — two on Kanakapura Road near Harohalli in South Bengaluru and one on Kunigal Road in Nelamangala to the west of the city.

Overall, the government has indicated that the second airport will be planned in South Bengaluru, with site selection guided by cost, feasibility and the need to avoid displacing villages.

- Ends