Gujarat to have 11 more airports: Narendra Modi
India's civil aviation sector is all set to figure among the top five in the world in the next five years. While stating this after the inaugration of the new domestic cum international terminal at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport in Ahmedabad, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said, "In 2004-05 when our civil aviation industry had grown big, it was still not in the reckoning at the world level. However, in the last six years there has been a major revolution which pushed our civil aviation sector at the ninth rank in the world."
In the next five years India's civil aviation sector would be among the top five in the world, Patel added.
The eco-friendly terminal constructed with a cost of Rs 316 crore has capacity to handle over 1600 passengers during peak hours and is equipped with software enabled aerodrome operation control centre for optimum utilisation of resources like energy.
The new terminal, which is likely to become operational on August 15, is constructed on steel frames and glasses is fitted with energy efficient lights and does not requires any illumination during the day time due to it's unique architecture.
Built on the lines of Changi airport in Singapore, this will be the first in country that will interlink an international terminal with domestic through a underground corridor having six travelators, making an L-shaped design.
The new apron or the aircraft parking space has been constructed to cater for parking of nine A-321 and four ATR-72 type of aircraft. It would soon have new air traffic control tower and a new radar.Also on the anvil is a direct flight from Ahmedabad to London from this October.
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Patel who had laid the foundation of the building in 2007 said it was a rare occassion when a minister lays foundation of a building and inaugurates it too.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who was the chief guest at the function said, "There is a pressing need for infrastructure. So much that before work on a infrastructure project can be completed, it gets smaller than the requirement. Gujarat has 20 small and big airports and there is a plan to develop another eleven in various tourist destinations including Palitana, Dwarka and Ambaji.
The Aviation minister stressed on the importance of more air service in Gujarat be it Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, or Bhavnagar. "Central civil aviation ministry would support all projects for Gujarat and we assure you that there would be no discrimination," Patel said.
He requested Gujarat government to consider the viability gap funding (VGF) model that the Centre has adopted for North-Eastern state for intra-state connectivity.
To this, Modi replied, ""In the VGF model for north-eastern states, the funding is done by the central government for airline connectivity. If the same would be done for Gujarat, I will adopt it right now."