New Delhi: n a bid to revive his political fortune and that of his party, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh, at one go, has conferred nine airports to Uttar Pradesh (UP), his home state, which also sends the largest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. Of the nine airports, the one in Fursatganj in Amethi, the constituency of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, costs Rs750 crore. The remaining eight airfields which will come up in the cities of Meerut, Muradabad, Bareilly, Faizabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Agar and Etawah will cost Rs1,280 crore to the exchequer.
The proposal for eight airports was cleared by the ministry a fortnight ago whereas the one for Fursatganj got the nod last week. Four of these airports are in western UP, the electoral battlefield of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Singh.
The ministry of civil aviation said the approval for airports was granted after conducting a detailed study. “A nationwide study was carried out by an independent agency and 100 sites were identified. The eight airports were given the go ahead on the basis of the report,” said a senior officer of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
24/01/14 Rohinee Singh/Daily News & Analysis
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The proposal for eight airports was cleared by the ministry a fortnight ago whereas the one for Fursatganj got the nod last week. Four of these airports are in western UP, the electoral battlefield of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Singh.
The ministry of civil aviation said the approval for airports was granted after conducting a detailed study. “A nationwide study was carried out by an independent agency and 100 sites were identified. The eight airports were given the go ahead on the basis of the report,” said a senior officer of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
24/01/14 Rohinee Singh/Daily News & Analysis
