The government of India has sanctioned Rs 108 crore under UDAN Scheme for upgradation and development of three Chhattisgarh airports.
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 48 crore for Jagdalpur (expenditure incurred Rs 45 crore), Rs 27 crore for Ambikapur (expenditure incurred Rs 27 crore) and Rs 33 crore for Bilaspur (expenditure made Rs 20 crore).
MoS, I/C, Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated flight operations by Alliance Air from Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh) to Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Hyderabad (Telangana) under UDAN Scheme
The air connectivity will fulfill aspirations of people of the region and provide impetus to local economy.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has planned for an investment of around Rs 900 crore to develop and expand Raipur airport which includes expansion of the terminal building.
Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had approved the bid of Alliance Air for operation of RCS Flight from Bilaspur to Bhopal under UDAN 4.0 which is expected to commence shortly.
Air India’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Alliance Air, was awarded this route under the UDAN-3 bidding process. The airline will operate daily flights and deploy 72-seater luxury ATR 70 aircraft on this route.
With the commencement of the Jagdalpur-Raipur-Hyderabad route, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has operationalised a total of 285 routes under RCS-UDAN.
The Jagdalpur airport is situated in Bastar, an aspirational tribal district with a huge tourism potential for its tribal culture and heritage. It is a business hub due to the presence of many furniture factories and rice mills in the region. Subsequently, many people travel frequently between Jagdalpur and the nearest metro city Hyderabad for business purpose.
The flight operations between these two cities will reduce travel time to 75 minutes from the current 12 hours spent on road and train trips. People from Jagdalpur can now reach Raipur in just 45 minutes as compared to seven hours on-road journey.