U'khand rejects subsidy for air connectivity

A subsidy model to boost air connectivity in Uttarakhand has been rejected by the state government.

Instead, the government will explore new options to boost the air connectivity in the hill state which is in bad shape. “Our past experiments show that the subsidy is not the right answer to boost air connectivity. Hence we have rejected this model,” said Infrastructure Development Commissioner Alok Jain following a high level meeting here today. The state government had been paying heavy subsidy to Jagson Airlines in the past but the arrangement did not work for a longer duration.

The subsidy model was prepared by the Uttarakhand Infrastructure Project Company (UIPC) limited, a joint venture company between the state government and the IL&FS.

Currently, Dehra Dun is the only city in the state which is having regular flights through Air India, and Kingfisher airlines. But there is no connectivity to Kumaon region especially to the industrial hub of Pantnagar where people face tough time to reach there. Industrialists and other businessmen usually come by roads to the state losing their precious time in travel. Airstrips at Gauchar and Chanayalisaur in Garhwal region are also not operational.

Meanwhile, after a gap of nearly three years, Pantnagar airport may finally get air connectivity. Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher is planning to start a daily flight from Pantnagar airport in Kumaon region.

Under the expansion programme, the runway at Pantnagar, an industrial hub of topnotch companies like Nestle, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors, has been broadened by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to 4500 feet long and 150 feet wide. The AAI had carried out the modernisation work with an approximate cost of '75 crore.

Significantly, Pantnagar was also recently in focus owing to the launch of Nano which is being manufactured by Tata Motors from its facility there.

As the industrialisation process gathers momentum at Pantnagar, the demand for a regular flight between Delhi and Pantnagar has grown in the recent past.

Before the expansion programme, Jagson airlines was operating its service to Pantnagar with the help of government subsidy. But after the first phase expansion, the government did not extend its subsidy to Jagson Airline.