Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Thursday, October 16, sanctioned an additional Rs 90 crore for the acquisition of 280 acres of land for the Mamnoor airport in Warangal.
In February this year, the Centre approved the development and operationalisation of Warangal Airport, waiving the exclusivity clause that restricted new airport developments within 150 km of Hyderabad International Airport.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had sought approval for the revival of Warangal’s Mamnoor Airport, referring to letters from the Telangana government confirming Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) had issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the project.
Clause 5.2 of the Concession Agreement between the Government of India (GoI) and HIAL previously barred the establishment of new domestic or international airports within a 150 km aerial radius of Hyderabad Airport for 25 years.
However, HIAL’s Board of Directors granted a one-time waiver for Mamnoor Airport, clarifying that this exemption would not apply to future airport projects by AAI or the Telangana government.
Following this, in July, the government released Rs 205 crore for land acquisition and the disbursement of compensation to the land losers.
The District Collector of Warangal has been ordered to complete the land acquisition proceedings at the earliest.
