Govt releases Rs 500 crore more for Kangra airport expansion

The state government has released a fresh installment of Rs 500 crore for the expansion of the Gaggal airport in Kangra district. With this, the local administration has received a total of Rs 1,960 crore to speed up land acquisition for the airport’s expansion. Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Hemraj Bairwa said that more than Rs 1,500 crore had already been transferred as compensation directly to the bank accounts of the families whose land had been acquired for the airport project.

He said that 150 hectares had been acquired for the airport’s expansion project, affecting 942 families of the area. “With additional Rs 500 crore released recently, the process of the disbursement of compensation has now been expedited,” he added.

Bairwa said that the total compensation requirement was expected to reach around Rs 2,500 crore. However, for the time being, Rs 1,960 crore was sufficient for the acquisition of land. He added that a few cases were pending due to intra-family ownership disputes, partition issues and ongoing court cases.

Another installment of Rs 500 crore would be required only after the resolution of such personal disputes and legal proceedings, he added. “I assure that payments in these cases will be processed immediately upon the completion of legal formalities, which may take some time,” he said.

He, however, clarified that the administration would proceed with the acquisition of this ‘disputed land’ even if compensation remained pending due to legal issues.

Bairwa said that the district administration had set March 31 as the deadline for the transfer of the acquired land to the Airports Authority of India. “We have completed all legal formalities. Notices under Section 19 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, have been issued,” he added.

At present, the airport has a runway of 1,376 metres, which restricts operations to smaller aircraft such as ATR-72 having a seating capacity of 70 to 80 passengers. Due to this limitation, airfares are often high and services are sometimes disrupted during adverse weather conditions.

After the airport’s expansion, the runway will be extended to 3,010 metres, enabling the operation of larger aircraft with over 180 seats, including Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.

The upgraded infrastructure was expected to significantly enhance operational efficiency and passenger capacity. It was likely to facilitate direct air connectivity between Kangra and major metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. The airport’s expansion was also projected to substantially increase tourist inflow, benefiting the hospitality sector and allied industries in the region.

Bairwa said that modern navigation and landing systems would be installed after the expansion of the airport. The introduction of a night landing facility would enable round-the-clock operations and ensure safer landings even during heavy rain, fog and other challenging weather conditions.