Parliament Question: Development of New Airports in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 6350 ( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 2nd April 2026 ) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AIRPORTS IN BIHAR 6350. SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:- (a) whether the Union Government has received any proposal from the State Government of Bihar for the development of new airports in the State; (b) if so, the details thereof including the names and locations of the proposed airports; (c) whether the Government has conducted any feasibility studies/surveys in this regard; (d) if so, the details thereof and the present status of each proposal; and (e) whether the Government proposes to approve and allocate funds for these new airports under the UDAN scheme or any other scheme and if so, the details thereof and the expected timeline for commencement and completion of the said projects? ANSWER Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Murlidhar Mohol) (a) to (d): As per Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008, if any airport developer including the State Government desires to develop an airport, they are required to identify a suitable site and get the Pre-feasibility Study conducted for construction of airport and submit a proposal to Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for 'Site Clearance' followed by 'In-Principle' approval.; ; Government of Bihar (GoB) identified three sites at Rajgir, Sonpur and Sultanganj (Bhagalpur) for development of Greenfield Airports. Pre-feasibility study of these identified sites were carried out. ; ; Subsequently, GoB submitted three separate proposals for these sites seeking 'Site Clearance' approval. The proposal was returned with certain observations for Rajgir site, whereas 'Site Clearance' has been granted for development of a greenfield airport at Sonpur. The proposal in respect of Bhagalpur site is under consideration of MoCA in consultation with stakeholders concerned.; (e): As per GFA Policy, the responsibility for implementation of the Greenfield airport projects including funding, land acquisition, R&R, obtaining mandatory clearances etc. lies with the Project Proponent i.e. GoB, in this case. The timeline for completion of an airport project depends upon many factors such as land acquisition, availability of mandatory clearances, financial closure etc.; ******