The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Govt. of Himachal Pradesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of a Green Field Airport in Nagchala, Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh.
Signing Ceremony was graced by Minister of Civil Aviation, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh along with senior officials from AAI, MoCA and Govt. of Himachal Pradesh including Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, MoCA, Sanjiv Kumar, Chairman, AAI, Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary, MoCA, Ram Subhag Singh, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh, Devesh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh, Dinesh Guleria, ATDO, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh, AK Pathak, Member (Planning), AAI, K. Vinayak Rao, Member (Finance), M. Suresh, Member (ANS), AAI, and V. Vidhya, ED (JVC/PPP).
The new greenfield airport at Nagchala, Mandi is being developed under the Greenfield Airport Policy of MoCA and a Joint Venture Company between the State Government of Himachal Pradesh and the Airport Authority of India has been formed. The projected land requirement for the airport is 515 acres approx. and the project is estimated to cost around Rs 900 crore excluding the cost of land.
Speaking on the occasion, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said, “We are committed to providing last-mile connectivity to the people of Himachal Pradesh. With this aim in mind, we are developing new aviation infrastructure as well as upgrading existing facilities in Himachal Pradesh whether it is the development of a new greenfield airport in Mandi or the acquisition of additional land for the extension of runways at existing airports. With this, we are committed to developing civil aviation as a harbinger of economic development for the region.”
There are 3 airports i.e. Shimla, Kullu, & Kangra and 5 heliports i.e. Kangnidhar, Shimla, Rampur, Baddi, and SASE (Manali) in Himachal Pradesh that are developed or being developed which would give a massive boost to the tourism industry of the state once completed.
