Chhattisgarh inks MoU for airport project

The state government in Chhattisgarh recently inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to boost regional air connectivity within the state. The MoU was signed between the State and Central government, a public relations officer said. As per the agreement, under the Centre's Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), small airports and airstrips will be developed in phased manner in different cities to facilitate intra-state flight services. This scheme will cover those cities where flight services have been either discontinued for a long time or could not be started quickly. The airports of Jagdalpur, Ambikapur, Raigarh, and Bilaspur cities in Chhattisgarh would have to first acquire Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) license for use of the said airports for public use before starting regional air services, civil aviation sources said, adding that the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur remains the sole airport in Chhattisgarh so far.