The ruling SAD-BJP combine got a shot in the arm with the Centre’s in principle approval to name the upcoming International Airport at Mohali as Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport.
The approval is being considered as a big achievement for the ruling alliance as they had been advocating in their previous tenure and further representation was made to the concerned ministry regarding naming the airprort which was initially to be named as Chandigarh International Airport.
A decision to this effect was taken by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in a meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who met the Ajit Singh in Delhi on Monday.
During the deliberations, the chief minister impressed upon Ajit Singh to get the airport named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh as a befitting tribute to the legendary martyr, since a resolution in this regard had already been unanimously passed by the Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Immediately conceding to this demand put forth by Badal, the Singh directed the senior officers of his ministry present in the meeting to get the necessary formalities completed in this behalf expeditiously.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds the portfolio of civil aviation, sought Ajit Singh’s personal intervention to urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to lay down the foundation stone of this prestigious project at the earliest, so that it could be completed on its schedule to facilitate the people of region especially from Punjab besides wooing the leading entrepreneurs across the world to make huge investments here.
Responding to the issues raised by the CM and Deputy CM, Ajit Singh assured them that he would request the PM to fix the date for laying down the foundation stone of this ambitious project.
For the proposed upcoming airport, the Punjab government has acquired 306 acres and 18 marla of land in Mohali. Initially, the Punjab government has shelled out the cost for the entire acquisition and later on Haryana coughed up 50 per cent of the acquisition cost, in order to have equity participation of 24.5 per cent in the proposed airport. The AAI has 51 per cent stake in the project.
If everything goes well, as per the plan. this will be the second international airport in Punjab after Amritsar. According to the plan, the existing infrastructure of the civil-cum-defence airport at Chandigarh would be integrated into the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport.
The existing Chandigarh airport is used for civil as well as defence flights(Indian Air Force). The project includes building an international terminal near the existing Chandigarh IAF base and further expansion of domestic terminal. Also, the expansion of existing runway to handle large passenger aircraft.
