Assam govt to hand over 992 acres to AAI for Silchar greenfield airport
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Assam government has decided to hand over 3,000 bighas (about 992 acres) of land at Doloo Tea Estate in Cachar district on Sunday, December 7, 2025, to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the construction of an airport with green areas.
Addressing a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Mr. Sarma said the panel approved an increase of 500 bighas compared to the previous decision to allocate 2,500 bighas (826.45 acres) for the proposed airport near Silchar.
“The cabinet has approved the transfer of 3,000 bighas in Doloo Tea Estate in Silchar to AAI for the construction of a new airport,” Mr. Sarma said, adding that the decision will pave the way for approval for the project from the Union Cabinet.
The state government had proposed a new airport spread over 2,500 bigha at Silchar as the existing facility at Kumbhirgram is a defense airport and it is not possible to expand the facility to meet increasing air traffic demands.
In November 2022, the Assam government distributed financial assistance “as a goodwill gesture” to 1,296 families living in Doloo Tea Estate.
Earlier the same year, a controversy broke out over the state government’s efforts to acquire land to set up a new airport, with the then Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia claiming that no such proposal had been received from the BJP-led state for the facility.
It was later announced that the land was purchased on AAI’s request.
Due to the confusion, land acquisition in the tea estate for the airport had led to protests by garden workers, but the government assured that no workers would be evicted from their homes and there would be no job loss.
The state government had earlier announced compensation of ₹ 50 crore for land acquisition in Doloo, Lalbagh and Mainagarh tea gardens for setting up of the greenfield airport.
In June this year, Sarma had said that a public hearing had been completed at Doloo Tea Estate. Workers under the aegis of Asom Mojuri Shramik Union (AMSU) expressed their dissatisfaction and demanded the government to return the acquired land or allocate the same amount of land to a different place for growing tea.
Talking about other cabinet decisions, the CM said the government has approved allotment of land to 1,200 families under the pioneering scheme of Mission Basundhara.
The cabinet also approved a joint project to be set up at state-run Assam Engineering College and Dassault Systems India Pvt Ltd.
Sarma said, “The project, which will be established on 5,000 square meters at a cost of 243 million rupees, will offer courses on aviation and defense, automotive and electric vehicles.”
He added that the Assam government will contribute ₹43 crore towards the total cost, while Dassault Systems will invest ₹200 crore.
Sarma also said that the cabinet has given administrative approval for the construction of the second Sainik School at Longvaku in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district.
“The school will be built at a cost of ₹335 crore, of which 80% will be borne by the Ministry of Defense and the remaining 20% by the Assam government,” he added.
Additionally, the cabinet approved compensation to 884 families for land acquired during the construction of the four-lane National Highway in Dima Hasao district.
Sarma said the cabinet approved the Assam Logistics and Warehousing Policy 2025, which aims to transform Assam into a major logistics hub.
“The cabinet approved the inclusion of Assam history and geography as compulsory subjects in classes 6, 7 and 8. This decision was taken on the basis of recommendations made by the high-level committee headed by retired Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma constituted for the implementation of Article 6 of the Assam Accord,” he added.
It was published – 08 December 2025 04:00 IST
