With greenfield airports emerging in major cities across the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is now concentrating on making hundreds of airstrips operational to enhance connectivity to Tier II and Tier III cities.

During his inaugural address at the 'CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024' on Wednesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary, Vumlunmang Vualnam, explained that the government is currently mapping 453 existing airstrips and brainstorming ways to make them operational.

Vualnam mentioned that although 157 airports are already functional and the ministry takes pride in them, they have begun evaluating the full list of 453 airstrips in the country.

While India currently operates around 157 airports, predominantly managed by the Airports Authority of India, numerous airstrips have remained inactive for decades, with some last used around the time of the country's independence. Vualnam pointed out that the ministry is assessing which airstrips need priority development within a 100 km radius and which ones serve larger populations or industrial development areas.

He also noted that they are considering developing these airstrips as brownfield projects and exploring the possibility of expanding the joint user concept for defence airfields.