Puri: The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has recently recommended Environmental Clearance (EC) for the proposed Puri International Airport, a flagship infrastructure project of Odisha government, an official statement said Friday.
The EAC has recommended environmental clearance for the project during its meeting held on June 26, the statement said.
The project, aimed at transforming the coastal town of Puri into an international gateway, has recorded major progress with a series of key clearances and regulatory milestones, reaffirming its trajectory toward realisation, it said.
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had granted site clearance for the greenfield airport on September 22, 2023. This was followed by in-principle approval from the Centre on May 6, 2025, marking a green light for further development,” the statement said.
Spanning over 1,164 acres of land, the project involves minimal forest diversion, with only 68 acres classified as district-level committee (DLC)/revenue forest land. The state Commerce & Transport department said it has already submitted all required compliance documentation to the MoEF&CC.
Since the Regional Empowered Committee (REC) at the integrated regional office here under the ministry has already recommended the project for stage-I forest clearance, the forest diversion proposal is now under active consideration of the forest ministry, it said.
In its meeting held on June 24, 2025, the advisory committee of MoEF&CC sought additional inputs, including a wildlife conservation plan and mitigation measures for ecologically sensitive species such as Olive Ridley turtles, dolphins, and migratory birds. The conservation plan is currently being prepared in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the statement said.
The state government officials clarified that such steps are part of the standard protocol for large-scale infrastructure projects. The department has already begun preparing the required mitigation measures in line with the advisory committee’s recommendations and will submit the plan to secure Stage-I clearance.
With these critical developments in place, the state government is expected to finalise modalities for issuing a request for proposal (RFP), moving the project into its execution phase.
Once operational, the airport will offer direct air connectivity to one of India’s most revered spiritual and cultural destinations, boosting tourism, employment, and regional economic development.
PTI
