Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wants Bengaluru’s shut-down HAL airport reopened


In an inter-ministerial communication that many senior officials are terming as surprising, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has written to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpathy Raju, requesting him to consider reopening the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport in Bengaluru. 

The defence minister's argument in the letter, which EThas reviewed, centres on HAL suffering revenue losses after its airport was shut down in 2008, as part of the arrangement when Bengaluru got its new airport. 

The arrangement that a second airport can't be operational within 150 km of a new airport is written into all concession agreements for greenfield airports. The defence minister's letter, senior officials in the civil aviation ministry said, was highly unusual because this clause cannot be violated under any circumstances. 


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