AAI approves 1,500-acre for Puri International Airport project

The empowered technical team of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has approved the 1,500-acre land, identified by the district administration at Girala village on the outskirts of Puri town in Odisha for the construction of the new international airport. The team, which is on a two-day visit to the pilgrim town, visited all the four sites of Girala and Sipasarubali on the town's western fringes as well as Samagara and Baliguali on the eastern side of the district. Sub-Collector Bhabataran Sahu along with other revenue staff accompanied the team. District Collector Samarth Verma informed that the AAI team has approved the land at Girala and will hold negotiations with the government to proceed further on this score. It may be recalled that in a letter to the PM in January this year, the state CM had sought the construction of an international airport to be named after Lord Jagannath at Puri in the state.