The Union Cabinet, in its meeting on Tuesday, cleared several major infrastructure projects, including a new greenfield airport in Bundi, Kota (Rajasthan) and a 6-lane ring road between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar (Odisha).

The Kota airport, to be built at a cost of Rs 1,507 crore, will come up on 1,000 acres of land provided by the Rajasthan government. The facility will have a 3,200-metre runway and a 20,000 sq. metre terminal building, capable of handling 20 lakh passengers annually. The project is expected to be completed within two years.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the airport will boost connectivity to Kota, which is both an education hub and an industrial hub, drawing lakhs of students and professionals from across India. He added that the number of airports in India has risen from 74 in 2014 to 162 now, with passenger traffic increasing from 16 crore to 41 crore in the last decade.

In Odisha, the Cabinet approved a 111-km, 6-lane ring road project around the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, at a cost of Rs 8,307 crore. The road will be built with expressway-level design standards, including access control, and is expected to be ready in two and a half years. This project is part of PM Modi’s Purvodaya vision aimed at boosting development in eastern India.