Hubballi Airport: According to officials, Hubballi Airport is the first AAI-run facility in India to create 2.4 crore units of electricity through its solar power plant in the last two years, exporting power worth Rs 12.32 crore to other airports in the state.

The solar power plant, which can produce more than 1.2 crore units of clean electricity a year, is a model for energy self-sufficiency. Officials estimate that this reduces carbon emissions by 2.15 lakh tonnes throughout a lifetime. Installed on the airport grounds under the Sustainable Green Airport Mission (SUGAM) initiative, the 8 MW solar power facility spans 38 acres and costs Rs 33.26 crore. Dec. 2022 saw the plant’s commissioning.

Exporting Solar Power

The Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, and Bengaluru HAL airports get the solar energy produced by Hubballi Airport. Additionally, getting power from the plant are the Airports Authority of India (AAI) facilities at the Ballari Radar station, Bengaluru GAGAN Air-navigation monitoring station, Kempegowda International Airport’s AAI staff residential colony, and Mangaluru International Airport’s AAI staff residential colony. According to Rupesh Kumar, director of Hubballi Airport, the solar plant produced 2.4 crore units of green energy, and the electricity it produced helped the state’s AAI airports and establishments save Rs 6 crore in power bills each year.

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“We made Rs 2.13 crore from surplus power sold to the KEB after providing power to AAI establishments through the grid,” he said. According to data from Hubballi Airport, the solar project produced 1.22 crore units of power in 2023–2024 and reduced AAI airports’ and institutions’ electricity expenditures by Rs 6.35 crore. The plant produced 1.18 crore units of power in 2024–2025 and reduced electricity bills by Rs 5.97 crore.

The airport received recognition for its achievements from the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific & Middle East. In the Green Airports Recognition 2025, the ACI gave it the Platinum Recognition, the highest honor, in the “Sustainable Energy at Airports” category for airports with fewer than 6 million passengers annually.

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