Centre plans to quadruple Srinagar airport capacity with investment of Rs 1,788 crore

New Delhi: With life returning to normal in Kashmir, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has sought government approval for investing Rs 1,788 crore in a new air terminal at Srinagar that would handle four times the present annual passenger capacity in the Himalayan valley.

“…to meet the ever-increasing passenger traffic and demand, it is proposed to construct a new integrated terminal building at Srinagar with a total area of 71,500 square metres to serve 2,900 Peak Hour Passengers (PHP) or 10 million passengers annually,” says the proposal.

Commissioned in 2008, the existing terminal measuring 20,659 square metres is designed to handle 950 PHP or 2.5 million passengers annually. This capacity got saturated in 2019-20 and in 2022-23, it handled 29,972 aircraft movements (both domestic and international) with annual passenger traffic of 4.40 million.

Passenger growth jumped by 40 per cent in 2022-23, the first unrestricted travel year after the Covid lockdown was imposed in March 2020 soon after Jammu and Kashmir state was reorganised into union territories on October 31, 2019.

Though the project was first announced by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in October 2022 at the 4th Heli-India Summit, his Ministry moved the proposal early this year with construction estimates that other government agencies are finding hard to accept.

The project start date, pegged for April 1, 2024, would have to be rescheduled as the proposal is yet to get the Union Cabinet’s approval. Its completion is targeted for June 30, 2027. The entire project would be funded through 100 per cent equity from the state-run Airport Authority of India through its own resources.

Srinagar airport, housed in 80.51 acres of land, belongs to Indian Air Force and the AAI maintains a civil enclave comprising passenger terminal building, civil apron and allied infrastructure