- NET Web Desk
The Assam Government is planning to hand-over lands to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) by May 10 for the expansion and upgradation of Silchar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Lakhimpur Airports; as informed by the Assam Chief Minister – Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Flying Training Organization (FTO) at Lilabari Airport in Assam’s Lakhimpur district on Tuesday, Sarma asserted that “launch of Redbird Flight Training Academy at Lilabari Airport is a landmark development, which will always remain as a red-letter day in the aviation history of the region.”
Referring the day as “historic” for Assam; the CM stated that after seven decades of India’s independence for the first time a flying training organization was constructed and inaugurated in the Northeast region.
It is the first in the Northeast and one of nine FTOs established under Phase-I of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, he said.
“The Assam government just handed over 84 acres of land for the establishment of a basic strip and the construction of an isolation bay,” he said.
He stated that around 200 pilots will be taught at the academy, with 10% of seats designated for applicants from impoverished and lower-middle-class households who will be sponsored by the Assam government.
“The Assam government has begun the land acquisition process for the airports of Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, and Silchar. The Government of Assam would hand over land to the Civil Aviation Ministry for extension and modernization of Silchar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and Lakhimpur Airports by May 10, 2022, to mark the completion of one year of state government,” he said.
“The land acquisition process for the Silchar Airport has already been finished. In addition, land acquisition for the Dibrugarh Airport is on the verge of completion. I recently released Rs.180 crore for the land in Jorhat for this reason. That means we’re on pace to give over the land to the Civil Aviation Ministry on May 10, 2022,” – the Chief Minister further added.
