“The contract for upgrading the eight ALGs will be signed in August after which construction work will start,” outgoing IAF chief PV Naik said here earlier this week.
The work would be completed in three years after which troop carriers like AN-32 and C-130J will be able to land in these airports.
The ALGs include Pasighat, Along, Ziro, Vijayanagar, Mechuka, Walong and Tuting among others.
Several helipads in the North East and fighter-bases in the East and North East are also being upgraded to increase the runway length for better fighter operations.
The IAF bases which would be upgraded as a part of the 11th Plan include Chabua, Tezpur, Jorhat, Mohanbari, Hashimara, Panagarh, Bagdogra and Purnea.
Two bases in the North East – Tezpur and Chabua – are now housing India’s most potent fighter Su-30 MKI.