Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will start regional flight operations from Jharsuguda airport under Centre's UDAN scheme in the first week of February 2018, officials said today.
Chief Secretary A P Padhi informed the reporters after discussing the matter at a state-level coordination and monitoring committee meeting at Secretariat.
"The flight from Jharsuguda is scheduled to take off during first week of February, 2018," a government release said, adding the flight will connect Jharsuguda with Raipur and Jagdalpur.
Four airstrips in Odisha and the Biju Patnaik International airport have been selected in phase-I for implementing the UDAN scheme.
The airstrips are Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Utkela in Kalahandi and Jeypore in Koraput districts. Jharsuguda has been upgraded to an airport from an airstrip.
Infrastructure of the airstrip at Rourkela is now ready for flights under UDAN scheme, the release added.
He also directed to make Utkela and Jeypore strips ready by March, 2018 so that the UDAN scheme could be implemented at the earliest, the release said.
The Director General of Police R P Sharma said around 135 police and 27 fire personnel have already been trained to provide security and fire services in the regional airports.
The Biju Patnaik International Airport will serve as the mentor airport for the scheme.
"The flight operator company (Air Odisha) appraised that regional connectivity from Kolkata to Rourkela has been scheduled to be started from January 23, 2018," the release said.
The state government has decided to reduce VAT on aviation fuel from 5 per cent to 1 one percent and provide 20 per cent of under the Viability Gap Funding, said general administration special secretary A K Meena.
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It will also provide subsidies and financial assistance for regional air connectivity, as a part of the 'Make in Odisha' initiative.
The average price of a ticket for these flights would be around Rs 2,500.
Routes like Bhubaneswar to Utkela, Utklela to Raipur, Bhubaneswar to Jeypore, Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda to Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar to Rourkela have been suggested for regional connectivity.