Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha on Tuesday announced that the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and the Jharkhand Government will sign a MoU for Dhalbhumgarh airport (60 km from city near NH-33 in Ghatshila) to pave the way for starting of construction work.
Sinha, who was in city to attend a CII function addressing media at Circuit House said that the Government is seriously working to ensure construction of proposed airport begins at the earliest.
The Government has zeroed on the World War-II era abandoned airstrip (nearly 2 km long). On the other hand private operator Air Deccan has assured to start regular flight between Jamshedpur and Kolkata in February.
“It is our ambitious project and we want to make it success. There is no issues in land acquisition for Dhalbhumgarh airport as major portion is forest land. The defence ministry had staked claim on certain portion of land but the Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto has held meeting with Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and convinced for a clearance from defence ministry which is expected soon. After this, state government will sign a MoU with Union civil aviation ministry paving way for construction of the Airport which will be completed in two years (2020). In the first phase we will invest over Rs 200-crore for the domestic airport,” said Jayant Sinha.
World War II era abandoned airfield in Chakulia, barely 70 km from Jamshedpur, was built by the British in the 1940s at an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore, and later used extensively during the 1962 war with China and the 1971 war with Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh is spread across an area of 515.44 acres.On the other hand the minister announced that in the second round of bidding under UDAN flights service will also begin between Bokaro/Dhanbad and Kolkata and Dumka to Ranchi. “ I wish to inform you that the second round bidding has already begun and details will be announced within a week or so this month,” added Sinha.
Under UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme , Air Deccan has agreed to start air service. Under the regional connectivity scheme termed UDAN, the Government is bringing the air service back to the steel city.
Meanwhile, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) along with JUSCO, Tata Steel & Tata Trusts a City Data for India Conclave at the Hospitality lounge, of the JRD Tata Sports Complex.
As part of the City Data for India Initiative, this event will be a platform to showcase the best practices and to discuss the importance of standardized city data for Indian cities.Speaking on the occasion, Sinha said that apart from the extraordinary work done to make Jamshedpur a smart city other cities in the state like Gumla, Ramgarh have the potential to implement various smart initiatives.
He appreciated the works of Tata Steel and Jusco to make Jamshedpur a world class city. He further added that some specific bottlenecks related to traffic, integrated transportation system etc. can be addressed and solutions replicated elsewhere.