Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated 12 new airport terminal projects worth Rs344bn ($4.2bn) during a ceremony in Uttar Pradesh as part of his recent celebrations of the country’s investments in transport infrastructure.
The PM celebrated the speed at which the new terminal buildings had been constructed, with some taking just 16 months to complete, and also marked the laying of foundation stones for three further projects in Kadapa, Belagavi, and Hubli.
While Modi attended a ceremony in Azamgarh, he also celebrated the completion of projects in Shravasti, Moradabad, Chitrakoot, Aligarh, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Lucknow, Pune, Kolhapur, Adampur, and the country’s capital Delhi.
He highlighted the importance of building infrastructure in the smaller cities, saying: “Today, cities like Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot, and Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh, which were once considered small and backward cities, have received new airport terminals.
“No one used to take care of these cities. Now, even air services are starting from here because rapid development is happening in these cities, and industrial activities are expanding here.”
India’s Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradiya Scindia also revealed the government was planning to see six new airports built in the state of Madhya Pradesh, increasing the number of airports in the region from four to ten “in the near future.”
India has seen a strong focus on expanding its aviation infrastructure in recent years as it looks to capitalise on the strong growth of the domestic market, which saw a record high in annual passenger traffic in 2023 and its best month ever in December with more than 13.8 million passengers.
The focus can be seen in the number of Indian airport projects and the size of investment into them, with projects currently underway worth more than $32bn according to GlobalData’s construction database, including the multi-billion-dollar project to build the Noida/Jewar International Airport and ease congestion at Indira Gandhi International in Delhi.
