Union govt providing infrastructure for growing aviation sector: Pralhad Joshi

Hubballi: India is the only country in the world to place an order for 1,000 civil aircrafts this year, and to facilitate the increasing air traffic, the Union government has been developing infrastructure at the airports in the country, said Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

He noted this while addressing the gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new terminal building of the Hubballi Airport in the City on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone of the Hubballi new terminal building from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh as part of laying the foundation stones and inauguration of new terminal buildings of 15 airports across the country.

Joshi said, Indigo has placed an order for more than 500 aircrafts, while Tata also placed an order for 500 aircrafts this year. To facilitate the increasing demands for the aircrafts, the aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus have planned to set up their manufacturing units in India itself, he noted.

Explaining how the aviation industry is growing rapidly in the country, Joshi said, the Union government is making all efforts to provide necessary infrastructure to the airports in the country. Hence, PM Modi has taken up new terminal building construction and developing airports in all states.

“Knowing the potential of the Hubballi Airport, I approached Modi for the construction of another big terminal for Hubballi, and the PM nodded to give Rs 320 crore for the purpose,” Joshi said.

“While the average growth rate of other countries is about 3 per cent, India’s growth rate is about 7.5 per cent. Our economy is the fastest growing economy in the world. In the next three years, India will jump to the third largest economy in the world from the present fifth position. Hence, the BJP government at the Centre has been focusing on developing infrastructure,” he said.

The Hubballi airport

Recalling the history of Hubballi airport, Joshi said, it was during the tenure of former chief minister S R Bommai, the airstrip was developed in the city. Later, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, Union minister late H Ananth Kumar managed to upgrade the airport with a terminal building.

In 2017, during the Modi government tenure, the existing terminal building was constructed, and now another terminal, which is four times bigger than the existing one, will be developed in the next two years, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Hubballi-Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad said, Joshi has written a new definition for development of twin cities. For the further development of the twin cities, it is our responsibility to elect Joshi for another term.

Hubballi-Dharwad Mayor Veena Bharadwad, MLAs Mahesh Tenginkai and M R Patil, and officials were present. Later, Hubballi-Dharwad East MLA Prasad Abbayya visited the venue and congratulated Joshi for initiating the Hubballi Airport developmental works.

Eco-friendly terminal

The new terminal will be an eco-friendly terminal with 5-star rating. Waste management, rainwater harvesting, solar power, and more facilities will come up here. The terminal will be ready for operations by 2026.

The existing terminal building, which was inaugurated in 2017, has an area of 3,600 sq/m and it has an ability to handle 600 passengers at a time. Besides the existing terminal building, a new terminal building will come up.

With the new terminal, the Hubballi Airport will be expanded to 20,000 sq/m, and it can handle 2,400 passengers at a time.