Ten small airports to be redeveloped

The state Cabinet on Monday, as part of the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme, approved upgradation of 10 airports, including Shirdi, Amravati, Gondia, Nashik, Jalgaon, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in the first phase.

Currently, only Gondia and Nanded have night landing facilities, but no air service provider has started flights from these cities.

Also, under the national policy on civil aviation, the Centre will provide funds as well the infrastructure for development of small airports. The Centre will bear 80 per cent share in viability gap funding (VGF), whereas the state will have to bear 20 per cent.

A government official also said the state would reduce the local body tax on air fuel from the existing 10 per cent to 1 per cent for a period of 10 years. The MoU draft stated the state would provide essential land free of cost for the expansion or restoration of existing airports. These airports will be connected with road, railways, metro and water transport. The state will also provide electricity, water and other facilities at concessional rates.

But even as the civic aviation ministry, state government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) get ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday for the redevelopment of small airports, former chief minister Ashok Chavan claimed that during his tenure itself he had taken steps to connect these across the state.

Without naming a co-party leader, Mr Chavan said his successor had done away with the '100 crore reserved for building night landing facilities at all airports across the state, thus nullifying his efforts.

The Congress leader also said the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme would not get response from air service providers owing to heavy congestion of air traffic at the Mumbai airport.

Mr Chavan, who is also a member of the Parliamentary committee on civil aviation, said he had allocated '100 crore for making available night landing facilities at all small airports.

Without naming Prithviraj Chavan, he further said, “My successor did not spend a single rupee on the scheme. He abolished it.”

He said he had suggested the idea of connecting small city airports with big cities to Union minister Gajapati Raju. “I suggested connecting Nanded with Hyderabad, Amravati with Nagpur, Sindhudurg with Goa. However, Mr Raju told me his ministry was just a facilitator and starting services was up to service providers,” Ashok Chavan said.