Maharashtra will get a new airport at ParuleChipi in Sindhudurg district in 2018. Work on the project is expected to be completed in June this year, before the onset of monsoon and the Ganesh Festival, which will begin in September this year.
The airport is being constructed by IRB Sindhudurg Airport on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) basis for the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Sindhudurg airport will have a 2500-meter runway which has provision for future development. The airport will be built at an approximate cost of INR 520 crores.
Sindhudurg airport will have the capacity to handle 200 departing and 200 passengers arriving during peak hours with expansion facilities to serve up to 400 departing and 400 arriving passengers without additional construction. Although the airport will be serving domestic travellers it will be equipped with facilities to serve international charter flights.
Agreement for construction of the airport has already been signed between MIDC and IRB Sindhudurg airport in 2009. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has given in-principle approval and environmental clearance has also been granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest. Construction of taxi way, apron and isolation bay has been completed and work on the airfield ground lighting in on. Construction of passenger terminal building, ATC tower and technical building is on in full swing. Construction of other ancillary buildings is in progress and will be completed on time.
An airport in Sindhudurg was necessary in order to provide better connectivity to the Konkan region of Maharashtra, parts of Goa, North Karnataka and Western Maharashtra. At present the state of Maharashtra has three functional international and 13 domestic airports.