JHARSUGUDA: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said a complete report for an international airport at Puri has already been sent to the Odisha Government by the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
“We are awaiting its response to develop a greenfield airport at Puri,” he said during his visit to Jharsuguda. The Union Minister visited the Veer Surendra Sai Airport - selected by AAI as the nodal centre under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - to attend the Udan Utsav program of the Union Government. Scindia visited exhibitions on handlooms as well as airlines at the airport and later addressed a public gathering.
Later addressing the media, Scindia said the expansion of Jharsuguda Airport requires 180 acre land. In 2019-20, about 2.16 lakh passengers commuted from this airport as against 2.04 lakh in 2020-21 during the Covid restriction phase, he added. “We have to do a lot for Odisha and both the State and Union government will work in coordination,” Scindia said.
With the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide air connectivity to every common citizen, Jharsuguda has become a prominent part of the Indian map which once was erased from the picture after the World War II. There are many such stories of Jharsuguda, he added.During the programme, he released a report on ‘The Socio-Economic Impact of RCS-UDAN Scheme: Phase I’ prepared by the Indian School of Business. A new logo of Udan Scheme was also unveiled.
Scindia also virtually inaugurated a new Guwahati-Shillong-Dimapur flight under the RCS scheme which started from Meghalaya airport. An agreement was signed with Make My Trip too. He flagged-off a short joy flight for 26 orphans including four physically challenged and 20 senior citizens. Later the minister visited Jhadeswar temple in Jharsuguda.
Odisha State Commerce Minister Padmanabh Behera, AAI Chairman Sanjeev Kumar, Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation Usha Padhee besides Odisha Commcer and Transport Secretary Madhu Sudhan Padhi were present.