State of the Economy. Why TN needs the Hosur airport

The Centre is pushing for regional air connectivity of smaller towns that are of importance. However, one of its policies could stop the industrial town of Hosur in western Tamil Nadu and bordering Karnataka from being deprived of having a new airport.

The current policy does not allow new airports within a 150 ­km radius of an existing airport. Unfortunately, Hosur is just 74 km from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. Tamil Nadu has already started work on developing the airport by recently issuing a tender calling for consultants to prepare a report for the project.

However, if the Centre refuses permission for the new airport at Hosur, it could lead to a confrontation between Tamil Nadu and the Centre as Hosur is a major revenue-earning region for the State, and in future, an airport could help its development.

We spoke to aviation expert B Govindarajan of Tirwin Management. He is championing the cause of national or Desi air cargo capacity and increased air connectivity to understand the need for an airport at Hosur?