New Delhi: Ministry of Civil Aviation, Delhi has given an 'In principle' approval for the setting up of 21 greenfield airports across the country. Out of these eight are already operational, including Kannur in Kerala.

In 2008, the Government of India formulated the Greenfield Airport Policy, which provides guidelines for establishing new Greenfield Airports in the country. According to the policy, airport development enterprises, including state governments, are required to submit an application to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has initiated efforts to build new airports and upgrade existing ones at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore over the next four to five years. This includes modernizing and developing existing terminals, runways, airport navigation systems, and control towers.

Applications submitted in this way will be approved through a two-step process, namely the 'Site Clearance' phase and the 'In principle' approval phase. Of these, eight airports, including Kannur, have already started operations, General (Dr.) Vijay Kumar Singh (Retd.), Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation informed the Rajya Sabha in writing.