Bengal CM pushes Behala airport revival, Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu responds positively
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West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari Photograph: (Credit: ANI)
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has reacted positively to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's push to revive Kolkata's Behala Airport, opening doors for expanded regional air connectivity under UDAN.
A fresh push to operationalise Kolkata's long-dormant Behala Airport has gathered momentum, with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari writing to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu, and the state's Minister of State for Youth Services & Sports, Dr Indranil Khan, holding a face-to-face meeting with the Union Minister in New Delhi on Monday.
The Delhi Meeting
Dr Khan met Naidu at his office in the national capital on Monday evening. Taking to social media afterwards, Khan said he was "delighted" to meet the Union Minister at his New Delhi office, and that he had urged him to operationalise the airport, expressing hope for a new era of civil aviation connecting Kolkata with the rest of India.
Khan also thanked Chief Minister Adhikari for backing the initiative, noting the CM's willingness to extend full cooperation and support to the Centre on the matter. According to Khan, reviving the airport would give a boost to industrial growth in Kolkata and South 24 Parganas, strengthen regional connectivity, aid medical evacuation, and support tourism and trade across the state.
The Chief Minister's Letter
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In a formal communication to the Union Minister, Adhikari laid out the technical case for reviving the facility. According to the letter, Behala Airport currently has a runway of 915 metres — sufficient, it states, for ATR-72 aircraft, air ambulances, and chartered flights. A recent drone survey found the airport spans roughly 215.59 acres across three mouzas in the Kolkata block: Gopalpur, Behala, and Poroui.
The Chief Minister argued that reviving the airport would help decongest Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport, while giving a lift to industry, connectivity, medical evacuation capacity, and tourism and trade in South Bengal. He asked the Union government to take steps toward operationalisation and consider starting commercial and UDAN regional-connectivity flights "at the earliest," pledging the state's support on land, security, and other clearances needed to move the project forward.
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The Union Minister's Response
Responding on social media, Naidu welcomed the outreach, saying it was good to hear from Khan about the possibilities opening up for Bengal. He struck an optimistic note about expanding air connectivity in the state, indicating that more airports — including Behala — would be brought into operation as part of a broader push to open up business opportunities in Bengal.
Why It Matters
Behala Airport has sat largely unused for decades despite its proximity to south Kolkata and South 24 Parganas. If revived, officials say it could ease pressure on the increasingly congested NSCBI Airport, create a new gateway for regional and chartered flights, and support emergency medical evacuations — while opening fresh avenues for trade and tourism in the southern part of the state. With both the state government and the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation now publicly signalling intent, attention will turn to whether concrete steps — land clearance, security approvals, and UDAN scheme enrollment — follow in the coming months.
