The State government has said that eight offers of land have been received from land owners for construction of a new greenfield airport near Shillong city.
During hearing of the matter in the Meghalaya High Court today, Advocate General Amit Kumar informed the court that following the notices issued for inviting Expression of Interest for large parcels of land to set up a new greenfield airport, six applications have been received within the cut-off date and two other applications thereafter.
Kumar also informed the High Court that the State government is in the process of vetting the applications and ascertaining the nature of land offered and whether the land would be suitable for setting up a new airport.
Since the exercise may take some time, the High Court fixed the next hearing on September 13.
The High Court had in March this year directed the State government to file a preliminary report on whether to build a greenfield airport or expand the existing Umroi airport as the AAI had said the extension of the runway at the current facility may not be feasible for landing of bigger aircraft.
Following the AAI’s indication that a greenfield project could be commenced elsewhere if 2,000 acres of land is available, the State government invited expressions of interest from the general public by June 6.
