The Odisha Government has urged the Defence Ministry to advise the Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAl) for the development of the airstrip at Jeypore in Koraput district for commercial operations, said an official here on Friday. Chief Secretary GC Pati has urged Department of Defence Production Secretary G Mohan Kumar to advise the HAl to develop the airstrip that would facilitate transport of aircraft engines manufactured by the company at Sunabeda by air instead of transporting by road to Visakhapatnam.
Pati said the establishment of various industries, including Nalco in Koraput and HAl at Sunabeda, would boost opportunity for commercial operation of the airstrip, which is on the side of the Visakhapatnam-Jagdalpur NH and lies in the Raipur-Visakhapatnam air corridor. While the State Government has already requested the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to provide technical and financial support to make the airstrip a full-fledged airport, the Koraput district administration has identified 445.52 acres of land for expansion of runway and other infrastructures, said the official.
The government has asked the Koraput Collector to finalise the financial implication for land acquisition. The airstrip was constructed on 60 acres of land way back in 1962. Odisha has 17 airstrips and 16 helipads. Barring the Birasal airstrip in Dhenkanal district, all other airstrips have existing runways that can take small aircrafts.