Advertisement
The Gulf conflict has disrupted global supply chains, pushed...
REITs have changed the way commercial real estate is owned a...
What does it take to preserve a real estate legacy while bui...
What really powers the cloud? Behind every Google search, A...
A lot of what defines a home isn’t visible at handover. I...
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has submitted a proposal to the Union Finance Ministry's Public Investment Board seeking approval for a new Terminal 3 at Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar, estimated to cost more than INR 1,200 crore. The integrated terminal, planned across 65,000 square metres, would raise the airport's annual passenger capacity to 8.6 million. Separately, amid opposition allegations that the airport is being lined up for privatisation and leasing to a private entity, the Odisha government has said it has received no formal communication from the Centre on the matter.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has submitted a proposal to the Union Finance Ministry's Public Investment Board (PIB) seeking approval for a new Terminal 3 (T3) at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar, estimated to cost more than INR 1,200 crore. Once the board approves the proposal, the airport will be able to float a tender for the project.
The proposed terminal is planned as a two-and-a-half-storey integrated structure spanning approximately 65,000 square metres, designed to bring both domestic and international arrivals and departures under a single roof. BPIA currently operates two separate terminals, with Terminal 1 handling domestic flights and Terminal 2 catering to international operations, including customs and immigration facilities. Once complete, the new integrated T3 is expected to raise the airport's annual passenger-handling capacity to around 8.6 million, with the ability to accommodate close to 3,000 travellers during peak hours. Officials have said that land for the proposed terminal is available within the airport's operational area, close to the existing Terminal 1 building.
The plan for T3 was earlier revised from separate arrival and departure facilities to a single integrated terminal following feedback from stakeholders, including the Airport Advisory Committee, chaired by Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, which had flagged the urgency of capacity expansion given that daily passenger footfall had crossed 15,000 on several occasions. The redesigned terminal is intended to feature expanded check-in areas, improved baggage-handling systems and additional aerobridges to accommodate the airport's growing traffic.
The Terminal 3 announcement comes even as questions have surfaced over the airport's longer-term ownership structure. Senior Biju Janata Dal leader and former minister Dibya Shankar Mishra has alleged that the central government has approved leasing out BPIA to a private entity, claiming that the Centre had cleared a proposal to club the Bhubaneswar airport with Hubballi Airport in Karnataka and hand both over to a private operator under the Public-Private Partnership model. Mishra criticised the move, describing it as objectionable given the airport's naming after former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik.
Responding to the allegations, Odisha Transport Minister Bibhuti Jena clarified that while the Centre has broader plans concerning the development and management of airports across the country, no formal proposal specifically relating to leasing out Bhubaneswar airport had reached the state government so far. Jena said BPIA was performing well and stressed that any decision concerning the airport's future would be taken only after carefully weighing Odisha's interests.
Reports of a potential privatisation drive covering BPIA have circulated periodically over the past two years, with the airport previously named among a list of AAI-run facilities, including those in Amritsar, Varanasi, Indore, Raipur and Tiruchirappalli, considered for private management under the PPP route. More recent reports have suggested that the government may seek to bundle smaller, less commercially viable airports with larger ones to attract bidder interest, with Bhubaneswar reportedly proposed for pairing with Tirupati airport. With both the Terminal 3 expansion proposal and the ownership questions unresolved, the coming months are expected to bring greater clarity on the airport's development trajectory, even as the Odisha government continues to maintain that it has yet to receive any formal communication on a possible lease arrangement.
Advertisement
Facebook
Whatsapp
