India, May 13 -- The state government on Tuesday accorded administrative and financial sanction for an airport at Gadchiroli to be constructed by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC). The home department has always demanded an airport in the district in order to tackle Naxal violence better while the state industries department wants one with a large runway, as a steel city with nearly 18 steel companies is set to come up in Gadchiroli.

District collector Aviyshant Panda said that the airport would be located seven kilometres away from Gadchiroli city, and the runway would be around 3,100 metres to accommodate bigger aircraft. MADC sources corroborated that a large airport, which could accommodate midsize aircrafts like the...