GUWAHATI, Aug 29 - Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha today said that expansion work of the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport (LGBI) with a project cost of Rs 1,142 crore will start in November.
The Union Minister also assured Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal that the Civil Aviation Ministry would take effective steps to boost regional connectivity.
Sinha had a meeting with Sonowal in his office today to discuss various issues relating to improvement of connectivity in the North East region. Sonowal said that the Centre should introduce flights from Guwahati to various countries of South East Asia. The Centre is also planning to construct a twin city and a new air port on the suburb of Guwahati and new task force would be constituted involving representatives and experts from both the Central and State Governments to study the viability to make the project a reality.
Pursuant to Chief Minister Sonowal�s request, the Union Minister assured to start helicopter services between Guwahati with other towns of Assam and North East. Sonowal also said that the State Government would construct heliports in smaller towns. The subsidised helicopter services will be made available under UDAN-II scheme.
Moreover, the Union Minister also assured to start daily flights between Guwahati and Dibrugarh and between Dibrugarh to Pasighat shortly. Regarding the alleged hike in air-fares in view of snapped rail link between Assam with other parts of the country, the Union Minister said that in view of chief minister�s concern over the issue, he took the matter with the appropriate authority and steps have been taken to rationalise the fare.