Thiruvananthapuram: After hopes rising and receding for over a decade about the prospects of a greenfield international airport at Aranmula, in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, wings appear to be sprouting again for the project as reports indicate that the federal government is in favour of it.

The Aranmula International Airport will be the country’s first private sector-driven international airport. It has been proposed to be undertaken by the KGS Group based in Chennai.

The Kerala government has decided on a 10 per cent equity in the project.

However, controversy has dogged the airport project over the past years, with one group vociferously objecting to the project on the argument that it will wreak havoc on the environment, and the opposing side saying the project will be an economic boon for the people of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Alappuzha and Idukki districts.

Supporters say the Rs12 billion (Dh706 million) airport will also be a huge advantage for the millions of pilgrims who make an annual visit to the Sabarimala temple in Pathanamthitta district.

The bigger beneficiaries, of course, will be the hundreds of thousands of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from these four districts who presently have to land at the Kochi or Thiruvananthapuram airports, and then undertake an expensive and tedious journey by road, which can also consume as many as five hours.

In the latest development, local media reported about the federal civil aviation ministry backing the airport project in an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court.

That line of thinking perfectly fits the development vibe given by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and prime minister Narendra Modi. However, that view is not shared by the state unit of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Kerala.

Some BJP leaders have even stated that they would go against the party’s national leadership if it backed the airport project.

The project had earlier been approved by different departments including the defence, home and revenue ministries as well as the Airports Authority of India. However, a Green Tribunal in Chennai disapproved of the environment clearance given to the project.

Scores of nurses and other emigrant workers from Kerala who recently returned from Yemen also said their return home would have been far easier if they could have landed in Aranmula, saving precious time and money.

The Hindu Aikyavedi has voiced its concern about the project’s likelihood of getting clearance, and has threatened to launch protests if the airport project takes off.

Kerala has international airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode and another one is coming up at Kannur.