The Steering Committee of the Civil Aviation Ministry, which considered the proposals of the Karnataka government to set up greenfield airports at Gulbarga, Bijapur, Hassan and Shimoga, on Friday granted "in principle' approval for the projects. The approval is subject to the condition that the Standard Operating Procedure will be formalised by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Defence Ministry on air space management of the airports at Gulbarga and Bijapur in view of the defence operations in Pune and Bidar. The Steering Committee on Greenfield Airports, headed by Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla, has representatives from the Ministries of Home Affairs and Defence, Departments of Economic Affairs and Revenue, Planning Commission, Indian Meteorological Department, AAI and the DGCA. The whole exercise comprises a three-stage approval process. In the first stage, the proposal will be considered for site clearance by the Steering Committee based on the suitability of the location identified and air space management. This clearance will be granted within three months of the application being made. Once the site clearance is obtained, the applicant will proceed with a project preparation exercise that involves the preparation of a Detailed Project Report and land acquisition. Once the proposal is formalised, an application to the Steering Committee will be made seeking "in principle' approval for the project. After seeking the "in principle' approval, the applicant will approach the DGCA for licence, which will comprise the last stage of approval for the project.