Regional air connectivity to benefit 10 airports in Maha

As per MoU signed between Centre and State govt, airports/air strips at Shirdi, Nashik, Amravati, Gondia, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg will be developed

Maharashtra government on Tuesday became the first state to be a part of centre’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme after it signed an agreement with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority of India (AAI) for developing 10 airports in the state.

The MoU was signed in presence of Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. The scheme is part of centre’s National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, which aims boost air connectivity in regional areas, by providing infrastructure development and financial support.

Under this scheme, the Centre and the state will develop the Airports Authorityowned existing air strips and the State government-owned ones. These include Shirdi, Nashik, Amravati, Gondia, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur, Nanded, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, a Maharashtra government official said.

“The MoU aims to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it affordable by enacting different concessions offered by Centre, the state government and the operators,” said Fadnavis. For the development of these airports the Centre will subsidise 80 per cent of the cost, while the Maharashtra will meet the rest under the viability gap fund (VGF). As per the MoU, the state government will reduce the Local Body Tax (LBT) on air fuel from existing 10 per cent to 1 per cent for a period of 10 years.

Raju said, “We want to ensure that airlines operating on these regional routes are economical. States will have to take some haircuts in the form of free land, security, fire services, water etc, while the Centre will have to forego excise duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and service tax on tickets.”

Meanwhile, AAI will send a team to conduct a preliminary study for development of the greenfield international airport at Rajgurunagar (New Chakan) in the first week of September, Fadnavis said. He added, “The operations at Shirdi airport will begin from November 2016 and AAI will provide all help needed for this project.”