Austerity gone: New flying machine for Khattar, Solanki soon
CHANDIGARH: The Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana, which got going with a display of austerity in 2014, will finally have its own fixed-wing aircraft soon.
The state government has shortlisted a Beechcraft King Air 250 aircraft after technical consultations with aviation experts.
Top officials said US-based Textron Aviation, the manufacturer of Beechcraft, will be called for price negotiation after a go-ahead is given by the technical committee set up to select the machine.
“We would like to schedule the price negotiation for the next meeting of the high-powered purchase committee,’’ said an official.
The state government already has a twin-engine helicopter purchased during the Congress regime at a cost of 5.5 millon Euros (R33 crore in 2009).
A Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft, also purchased during the Congress rule, had crashed in 2014 at the Chandigarh airport soon after taking off.
The then governor, Jaganath Pahadia, his wife and officials who were on board had a miraculous escape.
AUSTERITY GONE FOR A SIX
The first-time BJP chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar had tried to set an example in austerity early on his tenure by travelling in trains, commercial flights, luxury buses and metro rail, providing plenty of photo ops.
However, the pretense veered off soon. And despite having a chopper at his disposal, Khattar started taking chartered flights for his visits to Delhi, sparking criticism over millions being shelled out to private aviation companies.
Similar chartered planes were also hired for governor Kaptan Singh Solanki.
Gradually it dawned upon the political and bureaucratic brass that the state government needed another flying machine to cater to the needs of the VVIPs, including the chief minister.
“It would be better to invest in a state aircraft than depend on private operators. The state government had been paying millions for chartered operations. Also, many a time, a chartered plane is not available when the government requires it. Often, the government has to pay a higher cost. On many occasions, even the state chopper is not available due to maintenance and repairs,’’ said an official, justifying the purchase.
THE CHOSEN MACHINE
A civil Aviation official said Beechcraft King Air 250, which is an upgraded version of King Air 200, was chosen as it was an ideal machine, considering the length of runways at Chandigarh, Delhi and Hisar airports.
The King Air 250 needs a takeoff distance of 2,111 feet, which is just right keeping in view the average length of these airstrips. The aircraft has a seating capacity for seat 7 to 10 persons.