The Central government has recently cleared ₹611 crore for the construction of Gannavaram airport in Andhra Pradesh where the airport is located 13 km from Vijayawada. The project is a part of the government to go all out to improve civil aviation in the country by building new airports and also improving the existing ones, said Civil Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu. In a related development, Punjab cabinet recently approved the central governments proposal to set up an international civil terminal at Air Force Station Halwara and pledged to offer 135.54 acres land free of cost for the project. The Cabinet also gave go-ahead for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the same. The state sources said that the civil terminal would be developed jointly by the AAI and the Government of Punjab through a joint venture company (JVC) to be constituted for the purpose. While AAI would have majority stake of 51%, the Punjab government, through the Greater Ludhiana Development Authority (GLADA), will have 49% stake in the project.
