The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) aims to operationalise hundreds of airstrips in the country to enhance connectivity to tier II and tier III cities. Reportedly, mapping is being carried out for the full list of 453 airstrips while only 157 are operational.
The ministry is assessing factors including population, industrial development needs, and other development needs prior to operationalising the airstrips. These developments are being looked at from a 25-year perspective, and are likely to be developed as brownfield projects, or with the possibility of a joint user concept in case of defence airfields.