PM Modi inaugurates Shivamogga airport on BS Yediyurappa’s 80th birthday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the newly constructed Shivamogga Airport on Monday. The inauguration of the airport coincides with BJP strongman and former chief minister BS Yediyurappa celebrating his 80th birthday in his hometown. He walked through and inspected the facilities at the Shivamogga Airport.

The new airport was built at a cost of around Rs 450 crore. The airport's passenger terminal building can accommodate 300 passengers per hour. It is expected to improve connectivity and accessibility from Shivamogga and other neighboring areas in the Malnad region. The airport is Yediyurappa's dream project. In addition to the runway, terminal building, ATC tower and fire station building, it has a taxiway, an apron, an approach road, a perimeter road and a retaining wall.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for two railway projects in Shivamogga, which are the new Shikaripura–Ranebennur railway line and the Koteganguru bus depot. The new Shivamogga–Shikaripura–Ranebennur railway line will be constructed at a cost of Rs 990 crore and will provide better connectivity to the Malnad region with the Bengaluru–Mumbai main line. The Koteganguru railway coach depot in Shivamogga will be built at a cost of over Rs 100 crore to help run new trains from Shivamogga and decongest the maintenance facilities in Bengaluru and Mysuru.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for several road development projects worth over Rs 215 crore, including construction of new Shikaripura bypass on NH 766C connecting Byndur – Ranebennur, widening of NH-169A from Megaravalli to Agumbe; and construction of a new bridge at Bharathipura in Teerthahalli Taluk on NH 169.