Haryana Govt Wants Hisar Airport Be Declared Under RCS

BW Online Bureau Aug 12, 2017

Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said that the state government has applied to the Centre for declaring the Hisar airport under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

The state government is hoping that the airport would be included in the next list of RCS Airports, an official spokesperson said here.

Abhimanyu divulged the details in this regard after a meeting with British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith KCMG ( (Knight Commander), who had called upon him.

Abhimanyu said that once the Hisar Airport is included under the RCS, the air ticket would be priced as low as Rs 2,500.

Sir Dominic Asquith evinced keen interest in investing in Haryana in the fields of agriculture, agro-food processing, cold chain, civil aviation and solid and liquid waste management.

He said that several leading companies of UK intend to invest in Haryana in big projects.

Abhimanyu said that Haryana has a huge potential for investment owing to its 'locational advantage' and close proximity to National Capital Delhi.

He said the state government is pursuing an additional airport in Hisar, 150 kilometers from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, New Delhi.

As the IGI Airport is expected to be at its full capacity by the year 2022, the Hisar airport would prove to be a big game changer in the time to come, he added.

He said that Hisar Airport which is to be set up in over 4,200 acres of government land is a prestigious project of the state government for which a budget of Rs 100 crore has been earmarked.

Talks are on with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation for developing Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) Facility for the Defense Aircraft.

Describing Haryana as a "state with mature economy", he said that agriculture being the back-bone of the state, agro- food processing, fruit and vegetable marketing are among its focus areas.

He said that as the government is focusing on tapping the 40 million population of National Capital Region to meet their needs of daily use food items like milk, vegetables and fruits, there is lot of potential in setting up food processing units in the industrial estates at Barhi and Rai in Sonipat district.

The district has a close proximity to Delhi and has direct linkage with the national capital through Kundali-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway.

He said that the state government is committed to ensure that the farmers get reasonable price of their produce.

Capt Abhimanyu said that Global City is being set up in Gurugram in over 1,000 acres of land.

"We are in the process of finalising the master plan of the Global City for which a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been formed with Government of India," he said.

Global City, which is well connected with IGI Airport, New Delhi and other city centres of Delhi and Gurgaon would have IT and other Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES), projects of health care and other financial and value added entertainment services, he added.

Haryana and UK could also work together in the field of Solid and Liquid Waste Management, the minister said.

The state government has started a new project for the management of solid and liquid waste in Haryana under which all the 80 municipalities in the state have been divided into 15 clusters.

The project involves door to door lifting of garbage, its processing and converting waste to energy. Tender for the same would soon be floated in this regard, he added.