Bhubaneswar: A day after the Centre granted in-principle approval for a new greenfield airport in Puri, the chief minister’s office on Tuesday said the facility, to be named Shree Jagannath Airport, will be developed over 1,164 acres of land at an estimated cost of Rs 5,631 crore.The statement said construction of the airport will take place in three phases. Once completed, it will have the capacity to handle 4.6 million passengers annually. The development will boost regional connectivity, drive economic growth and make Puri more accessible to pilgrims and tourists.The civil aviation ministry had granted in-principle approval to greenfield airports in Puri and Kota on Monday. Following the approval, the CM expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union civil aviation minister K Ram Mohan Naidu in a post on X.On Monday, the ministry, in an official statement, said that Puri, one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites in India and home to Lord Jagannath, attracts millions of devotees and tourists from across the country and the world.“This airport will be able to enhance the direct connectivity between Puri and major metropolitan cities in India. This decision marks an important milestone for Puri and Odisha and is in line with the govt’s commitment to strengthening last-mile air connectivity and making air travel accessible to all,” read the statement.State govt had submitted an application along with the techno-economic feasibility study (TEFS) report and other requisite documents to the ministry in 2023 for the grant of site clearance for the development of a greenfield airport at Puri.In the same year, the ministry granted site clearance approval to the state govt. In Oct 2024, the state govt submitted another application for the grant of ‘in-principle’ approval along with a detailed project report and other requisites to the ministry.The proposed airport is being developed as per the Greenfield Airport Policy, 2008, under which the responsibility for implementation of the project, including land acquisition and funding, lies with the developer concerned or the state govt.In a related development, the CMO on Tuesday also announced direct flights between Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam from June under the B-MAAN (Building Management of Aviation Assets and Network) initiative. “From temple city to coastline — Odisha spreads its wings of progress,” the statement read.