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While public attention has largely centred on the long-pending issue of relocating the Gouripur Jame Masjid, commonly known as the Bankra Mosque, INDIA TODAY has learnt that a temple located near the airport police station will also be shifted as part of the proposed terminal expansion.

“It is not just about the mosque. A temple located near the airport will also be relocated. There will be no compromise when it comes to development,” said Sourav Sikdar, the BJP MLA from Uttar Dum Dum, after meeting Union civil aviation minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu on May 21. Most of the airport falls under Sikdar’s constituency.

Sikdar said redevelopment of the Kolkata airport was a major priority of the new BJP government in the state. “Developing the Kolkata airport into a world-class facility so that its full potential can be explored is a priority of the honourable chief minister. We are working towards realising it,” he said.

The issue of the mosque’s relocation was discussed earlier this month during chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s first meeting with administrative officers and MLAs at Nabanna. Adhikari reportedly said necessary steps would be taken to convince stakeholders to allow removal of the mosque in the interest of the airport’s expansion and aviation safety.Subsequently, on May 20, a meeting was held at the office of the district magistrate of North 24 Parganas, involving the administration and local MLAs. Former Trinamool Congress minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury attended the meeting as president of the West Bengal branch of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and a representative of the mosque.

According to Sikdar, the talks did not progress smoothly. “The government is ready to donate a larger piece of land for relocation of the mosque. But Siddiqullah Chowdhury was not very open to the idea. We are still working on it,” he said.

The 136-year-old Gouripur Jame Masjid is located around 150 metres within the airport boundary wall and approximately 165 metres north of the secondary runway. Officials have long argued that its location poses operational and safety constraints, particularly because only one of the airport’s two runways can currently be fully utilised.

Sikdar also pointed to an adjacent pond, claiming it creates additional complications for aircraft movement. “The pond beside the mosque often makes landing difficult for larger aircraft,” he said.

Sikdar emphasised that the airport redevelopment plan was not targeted at any religious community, pointing to the simultaneous relocation of the temple as part of the broader infrastructure project. He, however, declined to provide further details about the temple.

The airport’s expansion is expected to bring substantial economic benefits to the surrounding region, particularly the Uttar Dum Dum municipality. Sikdar said the municipality earns around Rs 86 lakh annually through taxes linked to airport operations, a figure he believes could exceed Rs 2 crore after the expansion.

The demand for relocating the mosque and modernising the airport is not new. Sikdar pointed out that the issue was first raised in Parliament in 1998 by his uncle, former Union minister Tapan Sikdar, during the tenure of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Now, with the BJP in power in Bengal for the first time, both the state government and the Union civil aviation ministry appear keen to fast-track the airport’s transformation. Along with runway and terminal expansion, the Centre is also considering a Delhi-like Aerocity around the airport—a premium master-planned district combining hotels, commercial spaces, entertainment zones and business infrastructure, similar to the one adjoining New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Officials believe the upgraded airport and proposed Aerocity could significantly boost Bengal’s economy, attract investment and strengthen eastern India’s aviation and logistics network, while also carrying strategic importance from a national security perspective.