The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to build an international airport in the industrial town of Hosur, located in the immediate neighbourhood of the Karnataka capital, has set off hectic discussions on Bengaluru’s over-stretched infrastructure unable to keep pace with the rising population.
The announcement made by chief minister M.K. Stalin in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday came close on the heels of Karnataka infrastructure development minister M.B. Patil seeking a feasibility study for a second airport to cater to the rising needs of the burgeoning IT capital.
However, the proposed Hosur airport can get operational only in 2033. This is in view of the Concession Agreement between the Government of India and the Bangalore International Airport Limited that there won’t be another airport within a flying distance of 150km before 2033.
It was that agreement that came in as a spoiler in including the airport owned by Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited in Hosur in the Udan scheme for
regional connectivity.
Notorious for its road traffic congestion, Bengaluru is burdened with the slowest traffic movement in the country and sixth slowest in the world, as per the 2023 figures of TomTom traffic index.
Experts see it as a boon for residents of east and south Bengaluru, including the tech corridor of Electronics City, located 25km away from Hosur, against nearly 60km from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
But Stalin’s announcement has also triggered a blame game in Karnataka.
T.V. Mohandas Pai, former CEO of Infosys, squarely blamed the “lackadaisical attitude” of the Karnataka government. “Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin announces international airport in Hosur. Karnataka lost industries to Hosur over last 40 years due to lethargy and lackadaisical attitude. Now an attempt to take more business from Karnataka. Karnataka must improve infra,” Pai commented on X.
But Pai’s doesn’t seem to be a common perception.
“The equation is very simple. While it takes more than an hour to reach the Bengaluru airport, it would take hardly 30 minutes to reach Hosur. So people from the Electronics City area will find an airport in Hosur more viable than taking the long trip on congested roads to the Bengaluru airport,” urban expert V. Ravichander told The Telegraph.
