On May 24, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi had announced an ambitious plan to boost Odisha’s urbanisation rate from the current 17% to 40% by 2036 and 60% by 2047. The announcement, made during the 10th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, detailed the govt’s urbanisation plan which includes developing a massive 7,000sqkm metropolitan region – comparable to the size of the Hyderabad Metropolitan region – encompassing Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Jatni, Cuttack, Paradip and Puri.When it comes to urbanisation, of all the infrastructural facilities that require attention and expansion, an airport is one of most important structures that plays a key role. And in the aftermath of the plane crash in Ahmedabad airport last week, focus on aviation-related infrastructural facilities has become paramount.“The existing airport in Bhubaneswar, despite recent upgrades, is approaching saturation, struggling to accommodate growing passenger traffic and bigger aircraft and large cargo operations. The proposed metropolitan area’s economic potential, coupled with increasing tourism and business activities, demands a new and strategically located airport outside Bhubaneswar,” former Air India pilot and BJD leader Manmath Routray said.The state budget in Feb had proposed to establish a greenfield airport in Paradip to accelerate growth in industry and to further expand the aviation map across industrial clusters in coastal areas. A greenfield airport in Puri has also been planned. The previous BJD govt had planned the Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri. As per the plan, considering Bhubaneswar’s saturation, Puri was planned to become fully an international airport and Bhubaneswar fully domestic. Recently Majhi also discussed expediting work on the proposed airport in Puri and upgrading the existing one in Rourkela.Routray added that a new airport would not only decongest the existing facility but also catalyse economic growth across the planned metropolitan region. It would enhance connectivity, boost tourism, and support the region’s industrial development. “The project aligns with Odisha’s vision of becoming an economic powerhouse in eastern India,” he said.The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) operates over 100 flights daily on an average and more than 35,000 flights annually.In 2013, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had planned a comprehensive expansion plan requiring 64 acres of additional land. The primary objective was to extend the runway from 9,000ft to 10,500ft, which would have enabled the airport to accommodate bigger aircraft like Boeing 777, 787 and 747, along with special cargo planes.Despite multiple negotiations spanning several years, the state govt’s offer in March 2017 fell short of the requirement. It proposed allocating only 47 acres of land, currently under the control of Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), against the required 64 acres. This land shortage then prompted AAI to reconsider its expansion strategy. Airport authorities have indicated that the existing runway is sufficient for current commercial operations, leading the AAI to shift its focus towards improving infrastructure and passenger services instead.“To expand the existing runway from 2274 meters to over 3000 meters, we need land in length and not in width. We can get 47 acres from OUAT but require another 17 acres that need to be acquired by displacing a part of Baramunda village,” BPIA director Prasanna Pradhan said.But even if a new airport comes up, there will be mushrooming of houses and towers and other structures – which may pose a threat to aircraft – around it. “Expanding an airport or constructing a new one will boost growth and that will also lead to growth in other sectors, like real estate for instance. In case of Delhi’s IGI airport as well, there are residential areas along Dwarka and Vasant Kunj end. Even the airport in Bengaluru, which is situated around 40 km from the township, now has houses coming up near it,” hotelier Debashis Patnaik said.While the runway expansion plan is facing a dead end for now, BPIA is set to get a third terminal to enhance domestic operations. The proposed terminal (T3), to be constructed over a 30,000 square metre area, may pave the way for segregated handling of arrivals and departures. Currently, BPIA operates with two terminals – T1 for domestic flights and T2 for international operations.