Erasama panchayat samiti office. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Aug. 8: Jagatsinghpur district may soon get an airport in Erasama to provide air connectivity support to the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) project here in the port town.

The Rs 2.74 lakh crore petro-chemical project has already been sanctioned by the central government in principle. The complex will be spread across a vast expanse of 284.15km along the coastal Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts.

The job will be completed in two phases under joint funding from the Centre, state and public-private-partnership.

The Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) would don the mantle of the nodal agency while the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) will be the anchor tenant for development of the PCPIR.

Official sources said that an airport was an integral part of the project.

The airport will match the international standard specification with the project requiring about 1,000 acre. A compact patch of land in Erasama block near Paradip has been identified for the purpose.

The cost of land acquisition is being estimated to be around Rs 96 crore and the state government plans to get the required funds from the 12th Five-Year Plan, according to official sources.

“Setting up of an airport is a must for the PCPIR project. The process for acquisition of land for the PCPIR project would be done by IDCO. Though we are yet to receive any communication from the state government regarding the PCPIR external development project, the administration would be able to meet the land requirement for the proposed airport at Erasama,” said Narayan Chandra Jena, collector of Jagatsinghpur.

For Paradip, the emerging industrial hub, non-existence of air link is turning out to be a major stumbling block.

The rail link and road connectivity to this bustling port town has also left much to be desired. With a spurt in industrial activities in and around Paradip, air link has become imperative keeping in view the investment that the region is attracting.