Karnataka government mulling over handing over Shivamogga airport to AAI without losing ownership of land acquired for project

The airport was built at Sogane near Shivamogga at a cost of over ₹450 crore. As much as 775 acres of land was acquired for the airport, which has a runway of 3.2 km. The airport can handle 300 passengers per hour.

Minister for Industries and Infrastructure Development M.B. Patil has said that the government of Karnataka is considering the pros and cons of handing over Shivamogga airport to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for maintenance.

Speaking to mediapersons in Shivamogga on January 30, the Minister said that the Airport Authority of India had approached the State Government in connection with handling the operations at the airport. “The proposal is under discussion. If we hand over the airport to AAI, the land acquired for the project will also go into the hands of the authority. We are contemplating handing it over on lease for a fixed period. Then the ownership of the land will remain with the State Government,” he stated.

Earlier, the Minister said the Karnataka government handed over Kalaburagi airport to the AAI. Around ₹1,500 crore was spent on the airport. “Once it is handed over, the land also went under the control of AAI. We will take a suitable decision with regard to Shivamogga airport,” he added.

Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa, who is in charge of Shivamogga, on January 31 told the media that the government had not taken a decision yet, but discussion was going on. “The government is considering handing it over to AAI on lease for maintenance,” he said.

When it was pointed out that the earlier Karnataka government gave up Mangaluru airport to AAI and now the same had been handed over to the Adani Group, Mr. Madhu Bangarappa opined that he would not support such an idea. “The airport in Shivamogga is already over-budgeted. Even after spending so much money, the night landing facility is not operationalised. We are finding ways to improve the business,” he added.

The airport was built at Sogane near Shivamogga at a cost of over ₹450 crore. As much as 775 acres of land was acquired for the airport, which has a runway of 3.2 km. The airport can handle 300 passengers per hour. The airport handles flights connecting Shivamogga to Bengaluru, Tirupati, Goa, Chennai and Hyderabad.