The second airport will be in south Bengaluru, says Karnataka Chief Minister

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar during a meeting regarding the construction of a second international airport near Bengaluru. | Photo credit: special arrangement

Stating that the location of the second airport for Bengaluru will be in Bengaluru South district, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said he had directed the officials concerned to choose a location that required less displacement of human settlements.

“We don’t want the project to result in massive displacement. It’s fine if we have to rehabilitate only a few houses. I have asked the relevant authorities to select a site which has less human habitation, less hills and which is technically feasible,” Mr Shivakumar told the media after a meeting with officials involved in the proposal to set up a second airport for Bengaluru.

The Chief Minister also noted that another criterion was to select an area where land prices are not too high and the government will not face a heavy burden due to compensation.

This was Mr Shivakumar’s first meeting on the proposed second airport after he became Chief Minister. Incidentally, Bengaluru South district is the home constituency of the Chief Minister.

A high-level team from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) inspected three sites at Choodahalli and Somanahalli on the Kanakapura road as well as another site on the Nelamangala-Kunigal road in April 2025 and submitted a report to the government.

Although the government has chosen a Singapore-based consultancy to study the feasibility of all three shortlisted sites, government sources say the two sites on Kanakapura Road were favored for selection.

Published – 09 Jul 2026 0:48 IST