To meet the needs of the increasing air traffic in the country, the Civil Aviation Ministry will talk to state governments to develop a 'national grid' for aviation by re-activating 400-odd airfields and strips lying disused in different parts of the country for decades.
"Most of these airfields are not functional. We will talk to state governments and encourage them to upgrade these small and non-functional airports and airfields. State governments should take interest in developing them to create a national grid for aviation," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters here.
He said the state governments could look at the public-private partnership route for this purpose or go in for private sector alone.
There are large number of airstrips and airfields spread over in several states, many of them being constructed during the World Wars and others by industrialists for private use.
Asked whether the ministry was considering tariff-based bidding for modernising the Kolkata and Chennai airports, Patel said: "We have not taken any policy decision at all in this regard".
To a question on having a second airport in Delhi and other major cities, he said given the increased air traffic, there could be no objection in having secondary airports in major metros.
The Ministry is considering revisiting the policy of not allowing a second airport to be built within a 150 km radius of an existing one and reducing it by half. The secondary airports could be used to meet the needs of the low-cost airlines.
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