Punjab Newspaper

The International airport at Mohali, SAS Nagar, bordering Chandigarh shall be built within two years. This was announced on the occasion of the signing of the MOU for the airport today.
The much awaited [tag]Mohali[/tag] International [tag]Airport[/tag] today formally got on the ground with the signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Haryana Government.
The MoU was signed in the presence of the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh [tag]Badal[/tag], Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mr.Praful Patel, Chief Minister Haryana Mr.Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Member Parliament & Working President Mr.Sukhbir Singh Badal. The Chief Administrative GMADA Mr.V.P.Singh, Chairman AAI Dr. K.Ramalingam and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister [tag]Haryana[/tag] signed the MoU on behalf of Governments of [tag]Punjab[/tag], Centre and Haryana.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Badal said that it was a red letter day in the history of Punjab when an MoU on setting up of Mohali International Airport was being signed. He said: “This is the biggest new year gift from the Government of India to us. For this I am deeply grateful to the Union Minister Civil Aviation Mr. Praful Patel whose personal interest and efforts have made this achievement possible for us”. Mr.Badal also thanked the Ministry of Defence and the Air Force authorities for their cooperation in seeing the entire project through.
Mr.Badal hoped that the upcoming Airport would change the face of the region and usher in an era of faster economic development. He said that the airport would benefit not only Punjab but also the neighboring states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh. Apart from this, the airport would also provide better air connectivity to the NRIs of Doaba and Malwa regions.
“The starting of the International Airport is going to generate huge employment potentials in the region. Thousands of jobs will be created by way of investment by new cargo companies, hoteliers, markets, malls and other similar ventures” said Mr.Badal. He also expressed gratitude to Mr. Patel for agreeing to the state government’s proposal for the up-gradation and extension of the existing airport at Sahnewal which would further boost the process of modernizing infrastructure in the state and provide much needed connectivity to industry in the area. He said that since Ludhiana was an industrial hub of Punjab and with markets all over the world requires a domestic airport for passenger and business travel. Mr.Badal also impressed Mr.Patel for setting up of a civil airport at Bhisiana in Bathinda district. He also urged Mr.Patel to give approval to the state government’s proposal to start a civil aviation university at Patiala to impart training to the youth of the region in the allied fields of civil aviation.
Speaking on the occasion, Haryana Chief Minster Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the new airport would open new vistas for international trade in the region. He also applauded Mr.Patel for the upgradation of Chandigarh air terminal which would be utilized for starting weekly or bi-weekly International flights.
In his address, Mr.Praful Patel said that the new international airport would be set up through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in which GoI would have a stake of 51% and 49% would be equally shared by Punjab and Haryana. Mr.Patel said that about 300 acres of land was being acquired by the Punjab Government and the entire cost of the land being acquisitioned would be equally borne out by Punjab and Haryana Governments. He assured that the international air terminal would be completed positively within two years through the AAI as it had a proven record of completing the two green fields airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad at a cost of Rs.2000 each within a stipulated time period of three years. He hoped this airport would certainly give a flying start to the overall development and prosperity in the region. It would also decongest New Delhi International Airport thereby causing lot of savings of time and money to the Government as well as passengers.
Mr.Patel emphasized the need to upgrade all the airports as air traffic has been rapidly increased by 40 to 50% in the last three years. The upcoming airport would also provide an efficient Cargo facility to export vegetables, fruits and other items from Punjab and its neighbouring states. He called upon the states to make joint efforts for the upgradation of infrastructure in the region because centre alone could not implement such mega projects due to the escalation of land prices in the recent past. “The model of today’s joint partnership between the states of Punjab and Haryana along with GoI should also be replicated in other parts of the country to achieve the higher national economic growth rate in real terms”, said Mr.Patel.
Earlier, Mr. Patel alongwith Mr.Badal and Mr.Hooda laid the foundation stone of an ultra modern State-of-the-Art integrated Terminal building at the existing Chandigarh Airport . Mr.Patel assured that the upgradation of Chandigarh airport would be completed with in a year.
It may be recalled that the setting up of the Mohali International Airport was the dream project of Member Parliament and working President Mr.Sukhbir Singh Badal which had been cleared by the Centre within the shortest possible time due to the concerted efforts of both Mr.Parkash Singh Badal and Mr.Sukhbir Singh Badal,.
Prominent amongst others who were also present on the occasion included Minister of State for Finance Mr.Pawan Bansal, Mr.Manoranjan Kalia, Mr.Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, Capt.Kanwaljit Singh, Mr.Ajit Singh Kohar, Mr.Manpreet Singh Badal, Mr.Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Mr.Bikram Singh Majithia, Mr.Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Mr.Ajit Singh Kohar, Mr.Hira Singh Gabria, Mr.Mohan Lal, Mr.Tikshan Sud, Mr.Gulzar Singh Ranike, Mr.Swarna Ram (all Ministers), Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Mr.Mohinder Kaur Josh and Mr.Nand Lal (both Chief Parliamentary Secretaries), President PPCC Mrs.Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Advisor to Chief Minister Dr.D.S.Cheema, Media Advisor to Chief Minister Harcharan Bains, Chief Secretary RI Singh, Principal Secretary Home Dr.BC Gupta, Mr.KJS Cheema, Mr.Gagandeep Singh Brar and Mr.Ajay Mahajan (all Additional Secretaries to Chief Minister).