The Union Government-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters ltd plans to introduce commercial helicopter service between Bhubaneswar and Paradip, Bhubaneswar and Konark and Bhubaneswar and Puri. Sources said the company has been asked to prepare modalities within a fortnight.The Pawan Hans and Paradip Port Trust (PPT) authorities on Saturday held a formal discussion with the General Administration Department Secretary GVV Sarma at the Secretariat to this effect.
The service would facilitate faster journey between Bhubaneswar and Paradip, a growing industrial belt where a huge petroleum chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) is coming up, and Bhubaneswar and Konark and Bhubaneswar and Puri, tourist destinations.Once the service is introduced, it will take 20 to 25 minutes to cover the aerial distances between these places.The largest helicopter service company in Asia, Pawan Hans is now engaging its choppers for anti-Maoist operations in Odisha.Earlier, the Pawan Hans authorities had submitted a proposal to the State Government and the Paradip Port Trust to provide them with the basic infrastructure and security for its operation.