Bhopal: Water resources minister Tulsiram Silawat has written a letter to union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to bring to his notice the need for expansion of facilities at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport in Indore, an official release stated.
Silawat urged the minister that it is necessary to fulfill the present and future needs of passengers at the airport.
The minister said in the letter that the runway length presently being extended up to 4000 metres should be further extended for large aircrafts like Boeing B-777 and Boeing B-747. This will facilitate movement of foreign passengers visiting Indore.
He said the new terminal building, adjacent to the current working terminal building, needs to be constructed early on the parking lot as the current terminal building has a capacity of 4 million passengers per year. It is necessary to develop multi-level car parking and two entrance and two exit gates for development of 20.48 acres of land with a metro station. There is also a need to develop a VIP terminal in the old terminal building.”
He said 150 acres of land was reserved by State Industrial Development Corporation on Dhar Road, 25 km from the airport, to develop an international logistics hub. Cooperation is needed from Ministry of Road Transport, Government of India, for its development. As it is near Pithampur, if it is developed, a new dimension will be added to development of Malwa region with marketing of products in the region through air cargo.
He said air cargo terminal started at Indore airport but due to non-availability of air cargo flights it hardly benefits the region. There is a need to start air cargo flights at the earliest. International flights to Dubai are also to be restarted soon, which were suspended last year due to Covid-19. The demand for starting this flight is being made by the residents of Indore.
He said it was necessary to start the process of developing a new international airport and cargo centre in a radius of 50-60 km around Indore city. This airport would have more than one airstrip so that all types of international planes can land there.