Second airports nod on a 'case by case' basis

Seems like the government wants to have its cake and eat it too. Why else would the Union Cabinet propose that no new airport be allowed within a 150 km aerial distance of an existing one, while also asserting that such a project may be allowed "on a case to case basis"?
As of now, the proposed airport at Zevar, Greater Noida, is under discussion by a Group of Ministers since it violates this 150 km cap vis-?-vis the Delhi International Airport Ltd.
So the Cabinet decision would have an immediate bearing on the Greater Noida project.
But, whether the Cabinet has also approved a full-fledged greenfield airport policy remains to be seen. The policy, which has been under discussion for some time, was supposed to provide for a single-window clearance mechanism for greenfield airport projects, doing away with the requirement for every such proposal to go through the Cabinet.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel had hinted a few days back that the policy would allow for faster and hassle free clearance of new airport projects provided they did not seek any divergence from extant policy and also did not violate the 150 km aerial distance clause.
25/04/08 Sindhu Bhattacharya/DNA MONEY/Sify

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Categories: Airports Apr 2008, New Apr 2008