Indore is central India’s busiest airport city, and its growth shows no sign of slowing. Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport handled over 4.2 million passengers in the most recent full year, up nearly 13% on the year before. That kind of growth pulls more construction into the airport’s regulated radius every year, from residential towers to IT parks to hospitality projects.
This page covers what an Airport NOC survey Indore project actually needs. That includes a certified GPS and AMSL survey, Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) analysis, and full NOCAS filing support, so your application goes in clean the first time.
Where Indore’s Airport Sits and Why It Matters
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport sits at Bijasan, about 8 km west of Indore’s city center, at a surveyed elevation of roughly 560 metres AMSL. AAI both owns and operates the airport directly, which makes this a standard civil NOC case without the added defence-jurisdiction complexity you’d find in a city like Pune.
The airport upgraded to international status in 2019 and now operates as a single-runway facility with night landing capability, running both day and night operations. That single fact matters for the surrounding zone: continuous operations mean AAI and local authorities apply the same height scrutiny around the clock, not just during daytime flight windows.
How AAI Calculates Permitted Height Around Indore
AAI’s height math follows the same national formula used across every Colour Coded Zoning Map in the country. Permitted height of the structure equals the CCZM’s permitted top elevation, minus your site’s verified ground elevation, both measured in metres AMSL.
Where a CCZM has been issued for the airport, local municipal bodies can approve proposals requesting a top elevation below that threshold, without needing to refer the case to AAI directly. However, this delegation has a ceiling. The maximum elevation approvable through CCZM alone is 150 metres. Any application above that figure has to go through AAI’s NOCAS portal for formal review.
This two-tier structure is exactly why an accurate site elevation survey matters before you assume your project clears locally. Getting your AMSL figure wrong by even a few metres can push a project that should have cleared through the local body into full AAI review instead.
Indore’s Growth Is Bringing More Projects Into This Zone
Indore has expanded rapidly as a commercial, educational, and logistics hub for central India. The airport’s cargo tonnage grew by more than 23% in the most recent year, a strong signal of the wider industrial and business growth happening around it.
This growth means more warehousing, IT parks, hotels, and residential towers now sit within the airport’s regulated radius than in previous years. Many developers assume a plot is far enough from the runway to be clear, only to find during due diligence that it falls inside a CCZM grid with real restrictions.
Checking your plot’s exact position early, before finalising a design, avoids discovering a height constraint after significant planning work is already done.
Why OLS Analysis Matters for Every Application
Obstacle Limitation Surfaces, or OLS, define the three-dimensional airspace envelope AAI protects around every runway. This isn’t a flat height cap. It’s a series of sloped and level surfaces that vary depending on your distance and bearing from the runway.
A proper OLS analysis checks your exact plot against these surfaces rather than relying on a rough distance-based assumption. Nationally, roughly 40% of height clearance NOC applications get rejected by AAI, and a large share of those rejections trace back to inaccurate OLS assessment rather than genuinely excessive proposed height. Getting this analysis right before you submit is one of the most effective ways to avoid becoming part of that statistic.
Do You Need an AAI NOC for Your Indore Project?
Under the GSR 751(E) rules that govern height clearance nationwide, any structure within 20 km of the airport’s Aerodrome Reference Point needs to be checked against the applicable restriction. This requirement holds regardless of the structure’s height or intended use.
Whether you need a full formal NOCAS application depends on where your surveyed elevation falls relative to the CCZM’s permitted top elevation for your specific grid cell. If it’s a separate aviation-related clearance you’re after, such as for drone operations, note that an AAI height NOC and DGCA clearance serve different purposes and one doesn’t substitute for the other.
How an Airport NOC Survey Works in Indore
- Zone and OLS check — Confirm your plot’s distance and bearing from the airport’s Aerodrome Reference Point, and check the current permitted top elevation for your grid cell against the Obstacle Limitation Surfaces.
- Site elevation and coordinate survey — A site elevation survey captures WGS-84 coordinates and AMSL elevation for your plot using certified GPS equipment, meeting AAI’s accuracy requirements.
- Height verification — We check your proposed structure’s top elevation, including rooftop additions like water tanks and lift motor rooms, against the CCZM’s permitted top elevation for that grid.
- Documentation — We compile certificates, ownership proof, and structure drawings per AAI’s NOCAS documentation requirements, cross-checked against the current list of documents required for airport height clearance.
- Filing or auto-settlement — Depending on whether the structure exceeds the CCZM threshold, we either route the case through local municipal approval, file formally through the NOCAS portal application process, or let the system auto-settle it.
Which Projects in Indore Need This
This requirement extends well beyond residential apartments. It applies to:
- Building height clearance for residential and commercial construction anywhere within 20 km of the airport
- Hospitality and IT-sector projects, both of which have grown steadily as Indore expands as a business and education hub
- Solar and wind or hybrid renewable installations planned in the outer growth corridors around Bijasan
How Long Does an Airport NOC Take in Indore?
Field survey work for a single plot typically takes a few days. Certified documentation is usually ready within two to three weeks after that.
AAI’s own review time through NOCAS depends on case load and on whether your site falls above or below the local CCZM threshold. Applications routed through the local municipal body tend to move faster than those requiring full AAI review.
Given the national 40% rejection rate on height clearance applications, it’s worth building buffer time into your project schedule rather than assuming a fast, first-pass approval.
Why Get Your Indore Airport NOC Survey Done by Surveying India
Our in-house DGPS and Total Station teams deliver certified GPS coordinates and AMSL elevation to AAI’s exact accuracy requirements across Indore and the Bijasan growth corridor. We run a full OLS analysis for every application, rather than relying on a rough distance estimate, which is where most avoidable rejections happen.
Because we prepare documentation to AAI’s exact NOCAS format, we cut down the remarks and resubmissions that stall projects in a fast-growing city like Indore. We also confirm whether your project qualifies for faster local-body approval under the CCZM before defaulting to a full AAI filing.
Beyond Indore, we’ve delivered survey work for government bodies, PSUs, and private developers across airport-regulated zones in India for over a decade. Our teams also work in Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Varanasi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kota, and Bhopal.
Planning a project anywhere near Indore’s airport? Share your plot location, and we’ll confirm your CCZM zone, run the OLS analysis, and tell you realistically whether your project clears locally or needs a full NOCAS application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Indore’s airport located, and how does that affect the regulated zone?
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport sits at Bijasan, about 8 km west of Indore’s city center, at roughly 560 metres AMSL. The regulated 20 km radius extends from the airport’s Aerodrome Reference Point in all directions from this location.
What is the maximum height a local body can approve without referring to AAI?
Up to 150 metres of top elevation can be approved through the CCZM by local municipal bodies directly. Any proposed elevation above that figure has to go through AAI’s NOCAS portal for formal review.
What is OLS analysis, and why does it matter for my project?
Obstacle Limitation Surfaces define the three-dimensional airspace envelope AAI protects around a runway. A proper OLS analysis checks your exact plot against these surfaces, which is more accurate than assuming clearance based on distance alone.
How often are height clearance NOC applications rejected? Nationally, roughly 40% of height clearance NOC applications are rejected by AAI. A significant share of these rejections come from inaccurate site data or OLS assessment rather than genuinely excessive proposed height.
Does every construction project in Indore need a full AAI NOC application?
No. If your proposed structure’s top elevation is below the CCZM’s permitted top elevation for your grid cell, and that elevation is under 150 metres, your local municipal body can approve it directly without a full AAI filing.
Is Indore’s NOC process complicated by any defence airbase, like Pune’s is?
No. Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport is a standard civil airport owned and operated by AAI, so Indore’s NOC process runs through the usual civil route without an additional defence clearance requirement.
Regulatory reference: Height clearance rules near Indore’s airport fall under Gazette Notification GSR 751(E). Zoning data and the CCZM are maintained by the Airports Authority of India on the official AAI NOCAS portal. Always verify the current PTE and zone classification for your specific coordinates before finalising a project.