India To Add 100 New Airports In 10 Years Under Rs.30,000-Crore UDAN Expansion
India will add 100 airports over the next ten years under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN, with a planned outlay of Rs 30,000 crore, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu has said.
The minister was in Ahmedabad recently to launch the country’s third ‘hub and spoke’ operation, an arrangement meant to let travellers from different parts of the country reach overseas destinations through Indian hub airports. The wider aim is to turn India into a global aviation hub.
Pointing to the expansion so far, Naidu said, “While there were 74 airports in 2014, today we can proudly say that India’s map features 166 airports. Going from 74 to 166 set a record for the country. Over the last 12 years, we completed work on a new airport or a new terminal roughly every 40 days.”
On the road ahead, he said, “We plan to spend approximately Rs.30,000 crore over the next 10 years to build 100 new airports.”
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had in March cleared the Modified UDAN scheme for a ten-year run from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36, with Central budgetary support of Rs.28,840 crore.
Calls for air connectivity, the minister said, now come from small towns, Himalayan districts, remote pockets and island territories rather than only large cities. “Everywhere, people are asking when an airport will be constructed in their area. This is the voice of modern India. We are listening to it, formulating policies accordingly, and moving forward,” he said.
The tougher task, Naidu noted, lies in linking these airports well rather than in building them. The hub model began at Varanasi and Amritsar, and Ahmedabad was chosen next given Gujarat’s large overseas community. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi were present.
Maharashtra Fast-Tracks Chakan Infra Overhaul
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed Maha Metro to examine the feasibility of new Metro routes linking Chakan with Rajgurunagar and Talegaon with Shikrapur.
Shinde issued the instructions after reviewing ongoing road repair works in Chakan recently.
The visit followed concerns raised by industrialists over poor road conditions, congestion and inadequate infrastructure.
The state government has appointed the Pune district collector as the nodal officer to coordinate works involving MIDC, PMRDA, PWD and MSIDC.
Shinde said the authorities were pursuing short-, medium- and long-term measures, with several infrastructure projects expected to be completed within 10 months.
He also directed officials to speed up work on the Talegaon-Shikrapur road and ensure better coordination among agencies.
The government is also addressing waste management, water supply, drainage, footpaths and street lighting in the industrial area.
For immediate road repairs during the monsoon, authorities are using polymer techno patches, M60 ready-mix concrete and precast panels.
Meanwhile, MSEDCL has strengthened power infrastructure in Chakan by commissioning 10 MVA transformers at the Bhamboli and Hyundai substations.
Further upgrades, including additional feeder bays and transformers, are planned to support the area’s growing industrial demand.
Maha Metro has already prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for a Metro corridor between Chakan and Nashik Phata.
The proposed study will examine extending this route to Rajgurunagar and developing another Metro line along the Talegaon-Shikrapur corridor.
Ranchi To Get Jharkhand’s First 10-Lane Smart Road
Ranchi is set to receive Jharkhand’s first 10-lane smart road, with construction work now underway following the award of a Rs.177 crore contract to West Bengal-based firm Ram Chandra Pal.
The corridor will stretch from Vivekananda School in Dhurva to the Ring Road via Nayasarai, connecting major landmarks including the Jharkhand High Court, Vidhan Sabha (state assembly), and the CRPF camp.
Survey work has commenced on the project, with the State Highway Authority of Jharkhand overseeing the initial phase. The tender was floated approximately two months prior to the contract award.
The road will feature a six-lane main carriageway designed for high-speed and VIP vehicles, complemented by two-lane service roads on both sides for smaller private vehicles, creating the 10-lane configuration. Modern amenities planned for the corridor include dedicated cycle tracks equipped with solar panels to generate electricity for street lighting, alongside contemporary drainage systems and seating areas.
The stretch up to Nayasarai will maintain the full 10-lane width, though the road will narrow after crossing the railway line, merging into a two-lane route leading to the Ring Road.
Pune-Mumbai Expressway 10-Laning Faces Delay as MSRDC Ordered To Conduct Fresh Surveys Before Expansion
The proposed expansion of the Pune-Mumbai Expressway to 10 lanes is unlikely to start this year after Maharashtra’s Cabinet Infrastructure Committee directed the MSRDC to undertake additional surveys before finalising the project.
The fresh survey exercise is expected to take at least a month, pushing back the approval and construction schedule. “It will delay the finalisation of the plan,” an MSRDC official was quoted as saying in a TOI report.
The state government had already given in-principle approval to create a uniform 10-lane corridor, but the project is still awaiting formal clearance from the Cabinet Infrastructure Committee.
MSRDC had earlier planned to begin construction after the monsoon, with September identified as the likely start date.
“Now it is not expected to start in September, as per the earlier timeline,” another MSRDC official was quoted in the report.
The proposed work involves more than simply adding lanes. MSRDC plans to strengthen the existing 24-year-old expressway while increasing its capacity to handle rising traffic.
The project is estimated to cost Rs.14,260 crore. Since the state budget does not include a dedicated allocation, MSRDC has proposed borrowing from financial institutions. It has also suggested extending toll collection by 15 years, from 2045 to 2060, to help repay the financing.
Land acquisition is not expected to pose a major challenge as most of the required land is already with MSRDC.
The corporation had planned phased construction to keep traffic moving during the works. The earlier target was to complete the widening within three years, by 2029-30, if construction started this year.
CCEA Sanctions Rs.3,591 Crore for NH-22 Upgrade in Bihar.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the upgradation of the 82.578-km Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi-Sonbarsa section of National Highway-22 (NH-22) in Bihar to four lanes.
The project, to be developed under the hybrid annuity mode (HAM), entails a total capital outlay of Rs.3,590.73 crore, according to an official release.
The upgraded corridor will connect the India-Nepal border at Sonbarsa with Muzaffarpur and integrate with NH-27, providing a key link to the East-West Corridor and Bihar’s wider highway network.
The project is expected to ease congestion in densely populated towns along the route, including Muzaffarpur, Muksudpur, Runni Saidpur, Thumma, Dumra, Bhutahi and Sonbarsa.
The highway has been designed for a speed of 100 kmph, with an average operating speed target of 80 kmph. The project will also have no at-grade median openings, which the government said would enable faster and safer movement of passenger and freight traffic while reducing vehicle operating costs and improving fuel efficiency. The corridor will also improve connectivity to key social and religious destinations, including the Baba Garibnath Temple, Mata Janki Temple, the Buddhist Circuit and the historic Janaki Punaura Dham Temple in Sitamarhi.
The project includes seven major bridges, including a 340-metre-long bridge over the perennial Bagmati River. It will also feature three railway overbridges and two flyovers measuring 1,170 metres and 270 metres, respectively.
The CCEA said the project would support economic and social development in the Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi aspirational districts while strengthening connectivity between Bihar’s major commercial, cultural and border regions.
