Jodhpur, 18 April (IANS). Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat expressed happiness over the expansion of Jodhpur Airport and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. He said that this has fulfilled the three -decade -old dream of the citizens.
Talking to the media, he said that the development of Jodhpur airport was very important for the city’s commercial and educational needs, which is going to be completed now.
Shekhawat said that Jodhpur has great potential for exports of industries like handicraft, steel, textile, stone, chemicals and engineering. Also, the presence of high educational institutions like AIIMS, IIT, NLU, footwear designing and fashion designing makes Jodhpur special. Jodhpur also needed a modern airport as the entrance to the desert.
He said that there were two major obstacles in the expansion of the airport. First, land shortage, because most of the airport was with the Air Force since independence and only the Civil Terminal was with the Airport Authority of India. Secondly, the aircraft could not land at night due to lack of facility of CTI-3 systems and automatic landing.
Shekhawat said that in the last 10 years, the central government strengthened the infrastructure of rail, roads, waterways and airports across the country. Modernization of Jodhpur Airport was also necessary in this sequence.
He said that former Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar played an important role to solve the problem of land. On the instructions of PM Modi, Parrikar, along with the State Government, Municipal Corporation and Airport Authority of India, transferred 37 acres of land, clearing the way for expansion.
On the occasion of the construction of the new airport building, Shekhawat also thanked the members of the Airport Advisory Committee. He said that this expansion will take the business, education and tourism of Jodhpur to new heights. This airport will not only be equipped with modern facilities, but will also be able to operate flights at night.
-IANS
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