Discuss the institutional mechanism for approval of greenfield airports in India, highlighting the roles of AAI, DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008 governs the setting up of new airports in India through a layered, multi-agency central clearance route [1]. The mechanism is technically rigorous, but being executive rather than statutory, execution risk remains with States.

The two-stage clearance pathway

• Site clearance: the developer — a State agency or private promoter — applies with a pre-feasibility report; AAI and DGCA inspect the proposed site and report to the Steering Committee on Greenfield Airports, on whose recommendation the Ministry grants clearance [1].
• In-principle approval: granted after inter-ministerial consultation, including the Ministry of Defence/IAF on airspace and security [1]. TIDCO obtained site clearance (August 2024) and in-principle approval for Parandur on 7 April 2025, conditional on ≥90% Phase-I land acquisition and commencement within five years [3].

Airports Authority of India (AAI)

• Statutory body under the AAI Act, 1994; appraises airspace availability, air traffic control and navigation feasibility, obstacle limitations, traffic forecasts and the impact on existing airports within the prescribed distance [1].

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

• The safety regulator: joins the joint site inspection, and finally issues the aerodrome licence under the Aircraft Rules — the binding gate before commercial operations can begin [4].

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA)

• Nodal ministry; the Steering Committee is chaired by the Secretary, Civil Aviation, and coordinates and monitors all clearances [2]. MoCA issues both approvals — 21 greenfield airports have received in-principle approval, of which 12 were operationalised [2]; Kota and Puri are recent additions [5].

Structural limitation

• Land acquisition, rehabilitation, funding and environmental clearance rest wholly with the developer or State Government [1] — hence Union approval does not guarantee execution, as Parandur's later abandonment illustrates.

The mechanism thus sequences technical, safety and defence scrutiny well, but stops at the water's edge of land and consent. Embedding a social-impact and rehabilitation appraisal — in the spirit of the LARR Act, 2013 — at the site-clearance stage itself would align aviation expansion with both cooperative federalism and SDG-9 on resilient infrastructure.