Heliport services in Agra, Mathura to take off soon for tourism boost

The Uttar Pradesh government is unveiling its blueprint to deploy helicopter taxis in major tourist hotspots, aiming to propel the civil aviation sector.

In the first phase, heliport services will soon launch in Agra and Mathura under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The state, eyeing tourism as a thrust area to achieve its trillion-dollar economy goal, has signed an agreement with Rajas Aerosports and Adventures Private Limited to operate heliports for 30 years between Agra and Mathura.

UP Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh said the introduction of this epoch-making heliport service would open new vistas of tourism growth and development opportunities.

“The heliport service would not only increase domestic and foreign tourist footfall in Agra, Mathura, and Vrindavan region with faster transportation facilities but also increase the state’s revenue and generate local employment,” he added.

In 2022, over 310 million tourists of various categories visited the state. Singh attributed the fast growth in tourist inflow to marked improvements in tourist and transportation channels.

He said heliport infrastructure would gradually be ramped up in other places to position UP as a major religious, cultural, natural, and historical tourist destination in India.

So far, the Yogi Adityanath government has allocated Rs 1,000 crore to improve tourism infrastructure, facilitating faster growth of surface, inland water, and air transport.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to launch ‘balloon safari’ in places like Lucknow, Agra, and Prayagraj.

The state is also looking to integrate tourism with local handicraft to boost the local economy. Since tourists generally buy local products as souvenirs, the state is promoting its flagship One District One Product (ODOP) scheme.

The ODOP scheme, launched in 2018 to revive traditional and indigenous handicrafts and industries across 75 districts of the state, includes setting up ODOP marts and promoting ODOP items on leading ecommerce sites such as Amazon and Flipkart.

Leading private banker HDFC Bank is assisting the state government in crafting its ODOP funding and marketing roadmap.

HDFC Bank’s Head of Branch Banking for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Akhilesh Kumar Roy, said the bank was working with the state government as a knowledge partner for the ODOP scheme marketing strategy. “The MSME loan portfolio in UP has witnessed a remarkable uptick after the ODOP scheme was launched by the state government,” he added.