Telangana moots second airport in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, July 31: The Telangana government on Monday proposed to develop a second airport at Hyderabad by requesting the Centre to allow use of the defence airport at Hakimpet for civil aviation.

The issue will be taken up with the Defence Ministry.

A decision in this regard was taken at the state Cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, here on Monday after discussing the development of a second airport at Hakimpet defence airport like in Pune and Goa.

"The Hakimpet station can function in a hybrid model like in Pune and Goa, where the airports are used both for defence and civil aviation,” state Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet felt that since Hyderabad is rapidly growing, it needs another airport. The present international airport in Hyderabad is catering the needs of 2.5 crore passengers every year and there is need for a second airport on the other side of the city.

The state Cabinet approved an allotment of 253 acres for the airport at Warangal, which is the second biggest city in the state. It observed that Centre is delaying the establishment of the airport at Warangal.

The Cabinet also approved setting up of another eight medical colleges in the state. This will make Telangana the first state in India to have one medical college in each district.

It also gave nod for building four TIMS (Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences) super speciality hospitals in four corners of Hyderabad . Fifty per cent of the services in these hospitals will be used as general consultancy and 50 per cent services on par with Nizam’s Institute of Medical Science (NIMS) in the hybrid system.

The Cabinet also approved Rs. 1,800 crore to add 2,000 beds in the NIMS. The cabinet gave its nod to establish a Horticulture college in Mahabubabad.