NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday approved a development plan worth Rs 2,869.65 crore for the Varanasi airport that will entail constructing a new terminal building, extending the runway and expanding the total annual passenger handling capacity to 9.9 million passengers per annum.
The Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, can currently handle 3.3 million passengers per annum.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Modi, cleared the proposal by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the development of the airport, including construction of the new terminal building, apron and runway extension, parallel taxi track and allied works.
“The estimated financial outgo will be Rs 2,869.65 crore for enhancing the passenger handling capacity of the airport to 9.9 million passengers per annum (MPPA) from the existing 3.9 MPPA.
“The new terminal building, which encompasses an area of 75,000 sqm is designed for a capacity of 6 MPPA and for handling 5,000 Peak Hour Passengers (PHP),” an official release said.
As part of the development plan, the dimensions of the runway will be extended to 4,075 m x 45 m and a new apron will be constructed to park 20 aircraft.
Further, the airport will be developed with focus on environmental sustainability through energy optimisation, waste recycling, carbon footprint reduction, solar energy utilisation, and incorporation of natural daylighting, the release said.
