BHUBANESWAR: Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), Bhubaneswar now connected with Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok through direct flights is all set to restart handling international cargo. Sources said BPIA is likely to relaunch international cargo handling operations from September to boost exports from the state.
The airport is upgrading its facilities to facilitate hassle-free export of goods to other parts of the world. The international cargo terminal will be operated from its earlier location close to the domestic air cargo terminal. The city office of Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the custodian of the international air cargo terminal.
International cargo operations, started in 2017, was discontinued after the Covid-19 pandemic struck and direct flight operations between Bhubaneswar and Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok stopped in 2019. “The cargo terminal is now getting ready for relaunch of the operations,” the sources said.
Though Odisha had been primarily focusing on mineral and metal products, export of marine and agri products, handicrafts, handlooms, chemical and allied sectors in addition to IT and ITES has shown immense growth potential in the last decade.
As export turnover has more than doubled between 2017 and 2022 despite the slowdown during the last two years of Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has launched its new export policy to and set a target to earn `3.5 lakh crore by 2026-27 and take Odisha to the league of top-five exporting states of the country. To begin with, it has already started exploring opportunities for exporting agriculture products, fish and seafood to Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.
The Agriculture department has sought the support of Confederation of Indian Industries to explore export opportunities of agricultural and fish products. A team of CII was here on Thursday to discuss with the minister and senior officials.