Bengaluru New Airport Update: Infrastructure Minister MB Patil said on Thursday that the proposal to build a second international airport for Bengaluru at Sira, Tumakuru district, may not be feasible, despite the fact that Home Minister G Parameshwara is backing it. According to Patil, if the airport is built at Sira, it will not serve as Bengaluru's international airport but rather as a district or regional airport.

In a campaign led by senior Congress leader and MLA TB Jayachandra, a number of legislators from different parties have recently signed a petition to the Chief Minister and Union Civil Aviation Minister to establish the planned airport in Sira, which is around 120 kilometres from Bengaluru. V Somanna, the MP for Tumakuru and the Union Minister of State, has also supported it.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) delegation has visited the three sites that the state government has previously identified for the city's second airport: two on Kanakapura Road close to Harohalli and one on Kunigal Road in Nelamangala.

"If the airport has to come up at Sira — Jayachandra is a senior, I respect him — it won't be an international airport for Bengaluru, it will become airport for Tumkuru and Chitradurga districts," Patil said.

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Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I have even said that we are considering a district airport for Tumakuru, Sira and Chitradurga region."

When asked if there was a desire to build an airport in Sira, the Minister insisted that the matter would be evaluated with specialists who would then draft a report.

He emphasised that it is crucial that airport developers come forward to build the airport at the finalised site and that they make their decisions based on viability.

"I too have a wish for an international airport to come up at Vijayapura (his native), is it possible?" he asked.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Tumakuru, Parameshwara, a native of the district, stated that he would be pleased if an airport were built in Sira, Koratagere, or any other location in the area as it would promote development there.