A proposed plan to develop four regional airports in West Bengal under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme requires verification before its locations, institutional responsibilities and implementation details can be treated as confirmed. A report published by Sangbad Pratidin – Kolkata says the state government is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation at Nabanna on Monday, October 5, 2026.
According to the report, the proposed agreement is intended to support the development or reopening of airports serving parts of West Bengal that currently have limited air connectivity. It says the initiative is being taken under the Centre’s UDAN regional connectivity programme and that aircraft with up to 72 seats could operate once the facilities become functional.
The report attributes the announcement to the state government and says a meeting at Nabanna would be attended by the chief minister and Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu. It also says the state government would request the restoration of direct Kolkata-Europe flights. These details have not been independently confirmed in the supplied material.
The central issue is the identity of the four proposed airport locations. In one section, the report says the state government decided to restart operations at Chharra in Purulia, Balurghat in South Dinajpur, the Hasimara civil enclave in Alipurduar and Kalaikunda in West Midnapore. In a later section, however, it names Hasimara, Cooch Behar, Balurghat and Haldia as the locations to be developed under the central scheme. The two lists are materially different, and the report does not explain whether one list refers to an earlier proposal and the other to the agreement expected to be signed.
This distinction matters because airport development is not simply a matter of announcing routes. Regional aviation projects require clarity over land, operational control, safety arrangements, passenger facilities, airside infrastructure, airline participation and the financial support available for routes. Without a confirmed location list and project framework, it is not possible to establish the scale of the proposed expansion or its likely timetable.
The report says the state government would provide land, approach roads, electricity, water supply and initial security arrangements under the proposed agreement. The Centre, it says, would construct the main airport infrastructure. These responsibilities indicate a division between state-level enabling works and central infrastructure support, although the supplied report does not provide the estimated cost, land area, construction schedule, airport ownership model or agency responsible for operations.
The proposed airports would be located beyond Kolkata’s established aviation network, according to the report. Balurghat is identified as a possible regional gateway for South Dinajpur, while Hasimara is described in connection with Alipurduar. The report also refers to possible facilities at Purulia, Kalaikunda, Cooch Behar and Haldia at different points. Because these locations are not presented consistently, their individual roles in the proposed network remain unclear.
For residents and businesses, the significance of a regional airport depends on whether flights are frequent, affordable and reliable rather than only on the existence of an airstrip or terminal. The article states that aircraft with 72 seats would operate under the scheme, but it does not identify airlines, routes, fares, flight frequency or expected passenger volumes. It also does not say whether the proposed facilities are new airports, upgraded airfields, civil enclaves or reopened airports with existing runway infrastructure.
The report links the initiative to the wider objective of connecting different parts of West Bengal by air and integrating the state with the national aviation network. It also says the state government believes improved connectivity could support industrial development. Those claims are attributed to the administration, but no industrial investment figures, passenger forecasts, employment estimates or freight projections are provided in the supplied material.
The institutional structure described in the report places the proposed project within the Centre’s UDAN framework, with the Union civil aviation ministry involved in the agreement and the state government responsible for several supporting inputs. Such an arrangement makes the MoU an important administrative milestone, but it is not by itself evidence that all four airports have secured land, approvals, funding, operators or scheduled services.
The report says the chief minister had earlier inspected Balurghat airport and held an administrative meeting on its possible early reopening. It adds that other state ministers reviewed the condition of the remaining facilities. These statements suggest that the proposed programme may involve a combination of airport redevelopment and service restoration rather than construction entirely on new sites. The supplied material does not provide inspection findings or technical assessments for any of the locations.
The most immediate evidence to watch is the text of the proposed memorandum, the official list of airports, the division of financial and operational responsibilities, and any subsequent notification from the Union civil aviation ministry or the state government. Those documents would establish whether the locations are Hasimara, Cooch Behar, Balurghat and Haldia; Chharra, Balurghat, Hasimara and Kalaikunda; or another combination.
The report’s wider aviation claim also requires separate clarification. A request to restore direct Kolkata-Europe flights is described as a matter the chief minister would raise with the Union minister, not as an approved route or confirmed policy decision. It should therefore be treated as a request rather than an operational announcement.
West Bengal’s proposed regional airport expansion is potentially significant because it connects aviation infrastructure with the state’s broader transport and economic geography. Yet the supplied account does not establish the final airport list, project schedule or confirmed flight plan. Until the MoU and official project details are available, the initiative should be regarded as a reported proposal awaiting documentary verification.