The practice of changing the names of the cities and roads is not entirely new in India. This time, it is for airports. Several airports in India are likely to get new names soon. Union Minister Dr Bhagwat Karad has said that a related proposal was sent to the central government seeking a new moniker for as many as 13 airports in India.
A PTI report, which first published the news, also claimed that Aurangabad airport could be renamed after the Maratha king Chhatrapati Sambhaji. The decision on the matter vests with Cabinet. Dr Karad told PTI that he has been following up on the issue regularly. “There are at least 13 airports in the country that can be renamed. I have been regularly following up on the issue. The Cabinet is expected to take a decision on this,” Karad said.
Dr Karad is not the only Minister who brought up the new development. Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that the legislators who go to Delhi should pursue the matter of renaming the airports and get the required approval at the earliest. He revealed the matter while speaking at a virtual inauguration ceremony of an establishment in Aurangabad.
History of Changing Names for Airports
Around six airports in India have changed their names from 2012 to 2018. Mana Airport in Raipur is now called Swami Vivekananda International Airport, Raipur. The name of Bengaluru International Airport got changed to Kempegowda International Airport in 2013. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport became Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in 2016. Indian Air Force Airport, Gorakhpur, and Indian Air Force Airport, Agra, were renamed as Mahayogi Gorakhnath Airport and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Airport in 2017. In 2018, Agartala Airport became Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore Airport.
Not long ago, a Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings has asked the government to change the code ‘GAY’ for the Gaya International Airport.
The Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia recently said in the Parliament that the government had given ‘in-principle’ approval to set up 21 Greenfield Airports in India. The practice of renaming airports aligns with the new development.
