Pantnagar may soon have cargo airport

DEHRADUN: Union government is planning to work with the Harish Rawat government to upgrade civil aviation facilities in the hill state to tap tourism potential.
“We are now keen to tap potential for religious, domestic and international tourism in Uttarakhand , so we want to work together with the state government,” said Gajapati Raju, aviation minister.
Gajapati Raju was speaking to reporters after his meeting with chief minister Rawat and other top state officials held at Beejapur guest house on Thursday. The union minister had flown from New Delhi earlier in the day.
A senior official, who attended the meeting, said the civil aviation ministry is considering all the aviation-related proposals sent by chief minister Rawat to Gajapati Raju over a week ago. Rawat had also personally met the civil aviation minister in this connection in New Delhi last week.
Listing the proposals, Gajapati Raju said one of the most significant proposals that was placed before his ministry was upgradation of Pant Nagar airport in Udham Singh Nagar district as a cargo airport to boost export and import-related business activities. Official sources said several business houses have their respective manufacturing and production plants and branches in places like Sitarganj, Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar as part of State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand (SIDCUL). Therefore upgradation of Pant Nagar airport as a cargo airport will considerably help boost business activities relating to export and import.
“Chief minister Harish Rawat and other top officials began to give serious thoughts on the need for raising Pant Nagar airport as cargo airport in view of repeated demands on this by members of different business communities,” said a businessman at Pantnagar.
Gajapati Raju also made it clear his ministry may work together with the Rawat government on expansion of Jolly Grant and Pant Nagar airports. Minister said the state government had proposed that Dehradun’s Jolly Grant airport should be converted into an international airport while Pantnagar airport be connected with other state capitals like Lucknow, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Bhopal.
The civil aviation minister said his ministry may clear proposals for night landing facilities at all helipads in the hill state.
Dubbing his meeting with civil aviation minister as quite satisfactory, CM Rawat told TOI that central government has also agreed to connect flights from Dehradun with Amritsar and Chandigarh to help fly devotees on way to Hemkund Saheb shrine every year. “It was quite a useful meeting with the civil aviation minister and hopefully the ministry will clear all our proposals,” said Rawat.