Hardeep Singh Puri, MoS, I/C, Civil Aviation announced that the Government of India has recently sanctioned INR 48 crores for Jagdalpur (expenditure incurred INR 45 crores) under the UDAN scheme for upgradation and development of Chhattisgarh airports.
Apart from this, INR 27 crores for Ambikapur (expenditure incurred INR 27 crores) and INR 33 crores for Bilaspur (expenditure made INR 20 crores) have also been sanctioned.
This air connectivity will boost the local economy
Speaking at the inauguration of flight operations by Alliance Air, Puri said that this air connectivity will fulfill the aspirations of the people of the region.
Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh; Prem Sai Singh, In-charge Minister, Bastar; TS Singh Deo, Chhattisgarh Minister for Rural Development and Health; Deepak Baij, MP, Bastar, and other senior officials participated in the virtual event.
Puri further informed that the AAI has planned for the investment of about INR 900 crores to develop Raipur airport. This will involve expansion of the terminal building. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had recently approved the bid of Alliance Air for the operation of RCS Flight from Bilaspur to Bhopal. This is expected to begin shortly.
Air India’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Alliance Air was awarded this route under the UDAN 3 bidding process. The airline will operate daily flights and will deploy 72 seater luxury ATR 70 aircraft on this route. With the start of the Jagdalpur-Raipur-Hyderabad route, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has operationalised a total of 285 routes under RCS-UDAN.
Flight services between Jagdalpur and Hyderabad will reduce the travel time to 75 minutes. This will be a significant decrease from the current 12 hours spent on road and train trips. People from Jagdalpur can now reach Raipur in just 45 minutes as compared to 7 hours on-road journey.
The Ministry of Tourism had noted that Jagdalpur is famous for Chitrakote falls. These are also called as ‘The Niagra falls of India’. Jagdalpur is also well known for its wildlife, caves, museums, and historic monuments.
