New Delhi, Mar 7 (IANS): The Cabinet on Thursday approved the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) proposal to surrender encroached AAI land measuring 106.76 acres at the Bhopal Airport to the Madhya Pradesh government.

"The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Airports Authority of India for surrendering encroached AAI land measuring 106.76 acres at Gandhi Nagar in Bhopal to the state government," an official statement said.

"It is in lieu of 96.56 acres of land already handed over by the government of Madhya Pradesh. The remaining 10.20 acres (approximately) of land will be handed over by the Madhya Pradesh government to the AAI," it said.

The statement also said that this will help in freeing up AAI's land measuring 106.76 acres, which is being utilized by the Madhya Pradesh government for various purposes like establishment of government offices and public amenities and to rehabilitate migrated Sindhi families.

In lieu of AAI's encroached land, the Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to provide an alternate land parcel which is contiguous with the land of Bhopal Airport and can be utilized by the AAI for aviation purposes.