Bengaluru airport's Terminal 2 earns recognition as one of world's most beautiful airports
Bengaluru, Dec 21: The Terminal-2 (T2) of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here has secured recognition as one of the ‘World’s Most Beautiful Airports’ and has been awarded the ‘World Special Prize for an Interior 2023’ by the UNESCO’s Prix Versailles, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) said on Thursday.
It is the only Indian airport to receive this recognition, said BIAL, which operates the KIA.
The Prix Versailles, established in 2015, focuses on "intelligent sustainability" as a cultural driver, acknowledging innovation, creativity, reflection of local heritage, ecological efficiency, and values of social interaction, a BIAL statement said.
Encompassing 2,55,661 square metres, the terminal is built upon four foundational pillars: technological leadership, a terminal in a garden, environmental and ecological stewardship, and a celebration of Karnataka's rich heritage and culture, the BIAL said.
Phase 1 of T2, inaugurated on November 11, 2022, is designed to accommodate 25 million passengers per annum, it said.
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Union Budget 2025-26: What get costlier, cheaper
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26 on Saturday. She has announced significant changes in customs duties and exemptions in the budget, affecting multiple sectors. While life-saving drugs, critical minerals, and EV manufacturing components will see price reductions, flat panel displays are set to face higher costs.
Items that have become cheaper:
* 36 life-saving drugs fully exempted from Basic Customs Duty.
* 28 additional goods for mobile phone battery production to come in list of exempted capital goods.
* Cobalt powder and waste, scrap of lithium-ion battery, lead, Zinc and 12 more critical minerals exempted from BCD.
* Exemption on raw materials for manufacturing ships was extended for another 10 years.
* BCD on Platinum findings have also been reduced from 25 percent to 6.4 percent.
* Raw materials used for manufacture of wired headset, microphone and receiver, USB cable, etc., will be exempted from BCD.
* Customs duty reduced to 5 percent for Open-Cell Displays.
* BCD exempted on raw materials for manufacturing ships for another 10 years.
* Customs duty on fish paste slashed from 30 percent to 5 percent. Frozen fish now taxed at 5 percent, down from 30 percent. Fish hydrolysates duties cut from 15 percent to 5 percent.
Items that have become costlier:
* Knitted fabrics
* BCD increased for flat panel display from 10 percent to 20 percent, impacting TVs and mobile phones.
While presenting her eighth consecutive Budget, she outlined that the Union Budget 2025 will prioritise the poor, youth, farmers, and women.
The Budget comes in the backdrop of the GDP growth rate projected to fall to four-year low of 6.4 percent in the current financial year. The Economic Survey 2024-25 tabled by the finance minister in both Houses has estimated India's GDP growing in the range of 6.3-6.8 percent in FY26.
