Second int'nal airport for Punjab in 2 yrs

Punjab's PWD Minister Pratap Singh Bajwa today said the state would have its second international airport at Lodowal near Ludhiana within two years and work would start next month.

"The Centre has already given its nod for a greenfield international airport at Ladowal and work will begin next month with a target of completion in two years," Bajwa told reporters here today.Bajwa said the new airport would be constructed on about 2,400 acres.

The state government has already selected a New Delhi-based consultant among 12 bidders for preparing a pre-feasibility report for setting up the airport, which will soon submit its report, and on the basis of that the state government will seek clearance from the Centre for initiating the project, according to Bajwa.

The consultant would estimate the traffic potential from Delhi and other cities to the proposed site, besides assessing the generation or cargo from here to be exported, he added. Regarding the creation of special economic zones (SEZs) in the state, Bajwa said till now it had been decided that there would be three SEZs in Punjab""Amritsar, Mohali, and Jalandhar.

"As far as the SEZ of Amritsar is concerned, DLF Builders has shown interest and it has been almost decided to give the job to the company. The blueprint for Mohali's SEZ in the field of information technology has also been finalised," he added.About the third SEZ, Bajwa said it would be in Jalandhar, especially for the automobile ancillary units, due to which even auto parts units in Ludhiana would benefit, he claimed.

The minister said to promote biotechnology, a special corridor in Dera Bassi-Sarhind-Patiala-Srabha would be developed.When asked about the bad conditions of the roads in the state, Bajwa said in the current year special emphasis would be laid on roads.

He said work to construct the Balachaur-Dasuya-Patiala-Patran road would start within a month on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis and from April 2007 toll tax would be imposed on the same.