VISAKHAPATNAM: The Centre has said that Vizag airport has been included under the Krishi Udan scheme. Replying to a query by Anakapalle MP B Satyavati on focus areas under the Krishi Udan scheme in AP in Lok Sabha on Thursday, the Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that the move focuses on transporting seafood.
“Krishi Udan is an ongoing scheme, which is reviewed from time to time in consultation with stakeholders. Initially, 53 airports have been included under the scheme,” V K Singh said. The scheme has been expanded further with the inclusion of five more airports, Belagavi, Bhopal, Darbhanga, Jabalpur and Jharsuguda—taking the total number of airports in the country to 58 under the scheme.
“Seafood was transported from Vizag airport to the far East region via Kolkata airport. About 54,273 metric tonnes of perishable goods were handled through 3.44 lakh flight movements in the country for the financial year 2020-21. Whereas 79,475 metric tonnes of perishable goods were transported through 5.31 lakh flight movements in the financial year 2021-22,” the Union minister elaborated.
The minister informed that Vizag airport handled 596 metric tonnes of perishable cargo through 905 flights in the financial year 2020-21 and 352 metric tonnes of perishable cargo was handled through 14,878 flight movements in 2021-22.