Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday informed the State Assembly that his Government had spent a whopping sum of about Rs 21 crore in 2013 on helicopters and aircraft, that include Rs 9.41 crore on maintenance and operation of State Government-owned helicopter and aircraft. In a written reply to Congress member Satyanarayan Sharma, the Chief Minister stated that the State owns a B-200 aircraft and an Agusta-109 helicopter and Rs 9.41 crore were incurred on in year 2013 on maintenance and operation.
The Chief Minister admitted that the State Government did hire helicopter and aircraft in which the cost incurred for Aviation Department was Rs 1.34 crore and Rs 10.22 crore for the Home (Police) department during 2013.
The State did not carry out any purchase of helicopter and aircraft between January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013, the Chief Minister said.
The State incurred the highest expenditure in the maintenance and operation of the helicopter and aircraft during the month of July 2013 at more than Rs 2.65 crore and Rs 1.06 crore in June 2013.