In the presence of Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia, Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Admiral DK Joshi the MoS for Ministry of Civil Aviation and Rajiv Bansal the Secretary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference opened the new integrated terminal building at Port Blair Airport, also known as Veer Savarkar International Airport. The new integrated terminal building, built at a cost of around Rs.7.1 billion, is capable of handling 1200 people during peak hours which is more than three times the current capacity. With a total built up area of around 40,800 sq m, the new terminal building will be capable of handling about 50 lakh passengers annually. The airport situated two km south of Port Blair, is the only commercial airport in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is named for renowned independence warrior Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (also known as Veer Savarkar) and at the airport the statue honouring the liberation fighter was unveiled by Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, MoS Gen Vijay Kumar (Retd) and other dignitaries. On the occasion, Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “Designed in the shape of an oyster, this airport doesn’t need an external source of light during the daytime. It has a double insulating roofing system, skylights for natural sunlight, an on-site sewage treatment plant and a 500 KW capacity solar power plant.