The plan is aimed at thwarting attacks like those witnessed on September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington, the Hindustan Times said.

Fighter aircraft from the Hindon airbase will be scrambled to intercept any plane deviating from its designated flight path or showing signs of hostile intent, the report said quoting an unidentified air force official.

At the moment fighter jets from the nearest bases in the neighbouring state of Haryana take at least 20 minutes to reach Delhi.

But the new plan "will reduce the response time to about five minutes in the event of an emergency," the official said.

"The high density of civilian traffic imposes limitations on Delhi itself being used as a scrambling base," the official added.

According to the report, there have been plans to boost air security cover for the capital since the September 11 attacks.

But the project assumed more urgency after a Lufthansa cargo plane violated a high security no-fly zone over the Indian Prime Minister's official residence in November.

Hindon, which currently houses transport aircraft, was a base for fighter jets until 1997 with a squadron of MiG-23 and MiG-27 strike aircraft deployed there.

But these squadrons were moved out after the air force lost a number of jets in accidents.

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