📘 Q.7 IAS Prelims 2024 — Current Affairs (Economics | Infrastructure | Aviation)
🧷 Authentic Classroom Explanation by IAS Monk
📌 The Question:
Consider the following airports:
- Donyi Polo Airport
- Kushinagar International Airport
- Vijayawada International Airport
In the recent past, which of the above have been constructed as Greenfield projects ?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
✅ Correct Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
🧠 Curiosity Raiser
Why does UPSC repeatedly test Greenfield airports when aviation seems like a static topic?
📘 Enrichment Notes (Prelims-Focused | Policy + Facts)
✈️ What is a Greenfield Airport?
- An airport constructed from scratch at a new site
- No prior aviation infrastructure existed
- Governed by Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008
🏛️ Greenfield Airports Policy, 2008 — Key Steps
- Identification of suitable site
- Pre-feasibility study
- Site Clearance by Central Government
- In-Principle Approval by Ministry of Civil Aviation
🔍 Airport-wise Analysis
✔️ Donyi Polo Airport (Hollongi), Arunachal Pradesh
- Constructed as a new airport
- No earlier civil airport existed
- Approved under Greenfield Airports Policy
✅ Greenfield — Correct
✔️ Kushinagar International Airport, Uttar Pradesh
- Developed as a new international airport
- Major Buddhist tourism hub
- Approved as Greenfield project
✅ Greenfield — Correct
❌ Vijayawada International Airport, Andhra Pradesh
- Earlier known as Gannavaram Airport
- Existing airport upgraded and expanded
- Not constructed from scratch
❌ Not a Greenfield airport
🧠 UPSC Trap Alert
UPSC often mixes:
- Upgraded brownfield airports
with - True Greenfield airports
👉 Always check “from scratch” vs “expanded”
🧘♂️ IAS Monk Whisper
Greenfield airports are not about flights — they are about policy footprints on fresh land.