‘Airport at Hosur will benefit floriculture and reduce shipment costs’

Chief Minister M.K Stalin’s announcement of plans to construct an international airport in Hosur, spread over an area of 2,000 acres, can see fruition if the State government stands firm in its proposal, V. Velmurugan, former president, Hosur Small and Tiny Industries Association, said on Thursday. On the heels of Mr. Stalin’s announcement on the floor of the Assembly, there was jubilation among the industrial community here despite the caveats of the Concessionaire agreement of the private party-managed Bengaluru International Airport, signed in the late 2000s, that has a clause against the setting up a new airport within a 150-km radius of the greenfield airport. An airport in Hosur would greatly benefit the floriculture industry, Bala Siva Prasad, President, Hosur Association of Small farmers, and Director, National Horticulture Board, said. The Minister had said that no airport could be constructed within a 150-km radius of the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru for 25 years since 2008, in accordance with the agreement between the Centre and the Bengaluru International Airport Limited, Mr. Annamalai pointed out.