Bihar set to get 6 functional airports in three years: Chief secy, ETInfra
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Patna: After establishing a strong network of roads, Bihar is witnessing a major leap in the civil aviation sector, with a total of six functional big airports expected in the next three years. This is being done with the aim of having at least one airport within a distance of 200 km from any town in the state. Apart from increasing the number of airports, the state also slashed VAT on aviation turbine fuel from 29 per cent to 4 per cent to attract more flight operators and enhance the state's air connectivity.Talking to TOI, chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena said the state already has three functional airports: one each at Patna, Gaya, and Darbhanga. Three others are going to be added to the list, including the fourth one at Purnia, which is targeted to be operational in Aug this year. The fifth in the pipeline is Bihta airport, which is expected to be functional by Dec 2027, and the sixth will be Raxaul airport, with the target of starting operation by June 2028.In addition to the state's major airports, six new small airports are slated to be developed in the next three years at Madhubani, Saharsa, Birpur (Supaul), Valmiki Nagar (West Champaran), Munger, and Muzaffarpur. These airports will be built under the Udan (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme.Nilesh Ramchandra Deore, special secretary in the cabinet secretariat (with additional charge as director of civil aviation, Bihar), said while these small airport sites already exist and are maintained by the state govt, they currently lack infrastructure such as air traffic control towers and terminal buildings required for flight operations. Under the Udan scheme, these facilities will be constructed with about Rs 25 crore allotted to each airport by the Centre – enabling the airports to become fully functional. With the addition of these six, Bihar will have a total of 12 airports (both big and small).Furthermore, the govt has approved the construction of heliports at Jehanabad, Samastipur, and Nalanda, and this project is now in progress.Over the past year, Bihar saw key developments in civil aviation. The new terminal at Patna's Jay Prakash Narain International Airport was built at the cost of Rs 1,216 crore. The state also urged the Centre to approve an international greenfield airport near Patna. For Darbhanga airport, 76.65 acres were transferred and 89.75 acres were acquired (Rs 244.61 crore).
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