The Centre’s 100-day plan for the aviation sector includes five new airports, six heliports and commissioning of 50 new commercial routes under the Udan scheme.
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday unveiled the Centre’s 100-day plan to give the much-needed fillip to the civil aviation sector.
Addressing the media in New Delhi, the civil aviation minister said the Centre has placed eight policy targets for the next 100 days, including setting up of five new airports, six heliports and commissioning of 50 new commercial routes under the Udan scheme.
The Union minister said the 100-day plan will be implemented from August 30 till November 30 and will comprise 16 key points, four of which are under infrastructure, eight under policy targets, and another four under reforms.
“We have a 100-day plan for the ministry based on which we’ll be answerable to the stakeholders transparently. Under this 100-day target, we have three main foundations — infrastructure, policy targets and reforms initiative,” Scindia said at the meeting.
The minister announced that four airports would be made operation or developed optimally under the 100-day plan.
The Centre has allocated ₹255 crore to make Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh operational and landing and take-off of Airbus 321 Boeing 737 flights.
The minister said a new terminal will come up at Dehradun airport in Uttarakhand, to facilitate passenger capacity from the existing 250 to 1,800 after the Centre pumped in ₹457 crore for its revamp.
He also said that Agartala airport will also be upgraded to increase its capacity from 500 passengers per hour to 1,200 per hour at an estimated cost of ₹490 crore.
The civil aviation minister said a new airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh will come up and the government has earmarked ₹30,000 crore for it. The airport is expected to have a capacity of two crore passengers every year.
“In the first phase, ₹9000 crore will be invested and capacity will be increased to 1.2 crore passengers every year. By the fourth phase, the passenger capacity will be expanded up to seven crore,” he said, adding that, “Jewar and Delhi airports will emerge as the country’s futuristic transit hubs.”
Last week, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority inked a pact with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to prepare a feasibility report of a metro rail corridor to link Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and the proposed airport at Jewar In Noida.
The minister said the six new heliports would be developed in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand under the regional air connectivity scheme Udan.
Source: Avik Roy/Hindustan Times.com