AGARTALA, Sept 26 - The Civil Aviation Ministry will invest Rs 3,500 crore in the aviation sector of the North East region in the next couple of years, said Sanjiv Jindal, Regional Executive Director of the AAI, North East region.
Jindal, who arrived here today to review the progress of construction of the new terminal of the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport, told media persons that an amount of Rs 1,250 crore would be spent on the facelift of the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, the region�s most busy airport. The new terminal of the Tripura airport will entail an expenditure of Rs 448 crore and an amount of Rs 650 crore will be spent on infrastructure development of the Imphal airport.
As per the plan, the works of the Imphal airport will be completed by the end of this year, while the new terminal of the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport here will be ready for use by March next year.
Stating that the aviation sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country, Jindal said that three water aerodromes would come up in Assam. He added that boosting air connectivity to some parts of the North East region was on the AAI�s radar. The potential sites include Silchar, Tezpur, Dimapur, Shillong and Tura. Besides, the Union Aviation Ministry has identified 20 locations in Arunachal Pradesh where helicopter services would be launched soon.
On being asked about the progress of expansion of the runway at the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport, Jindal said the External Affairs Ministry has already approached Dhaka for 52 acres of land to extend the existing runway.
�There is a possibility of the airport being used by the two countries, which is operational in Europe. The Asian Development Bank has already carried out a survey and suggested the new concept,� he said.
To a query, the AAI official said that out of the total 13 operational airports in the North East, only the airport in Guwahati is on the path of making profits. Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport Director VK Seth was also present during the media briefing.
