The industrial town of Jalgaon in Maharashtra, the hometown of President Pratibha Patil, will be connected by air to the rest of the country by 2010, an official said.
MUMBAI: The industrial town of Jalgaon in Maharashtra, the hometown of President Pratibha Patil, will be connected by air to the rest of the country by 2010, an official said.
At a tripartite meeting held here between the state government, Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) and Jalgaon district authorities Tuesday evening, it was decided that an airport would be established in the town, about 400 km from Mumbai, within two years.
Jalgaon district collector Kunal Kumar told IANS: "We decided on the time line of the project. The airport will be operational 2010."
He added that various strategies for the technical and financial aspect of the prestigious project were also chalked out at the meeting.
The Jalgaon Airport Company Limited, an entity formed by MADC and chaired by Kumar, will soon acquire land for the airport.
An official said the Jalgaon airport is likely to be built on the lines of the Kochi International Airport, one of the country's most successful airport projects based on public-private partnership.
MADC genral manager Ramesh Yaul said: "Various airport models like Kochi, Bangalore and Hyderabad are being studied, so that we can have the best passenger, infrastructural and aeronautical facilities."
Yaul said the company will be looking for funding from private players like Jain Irrigation, which has a strong foothold in area.
MADC has suggested that the proposed airport would require 350 hectares of land with at least 3,200 metres of runway length and 45 metres breadth and one taxiway.
Apart from Jalgaon, MADC will soon develop Sholapur, Shirdi and an international airport in Pune.
Initially, the government had drawn a map for constructing at least seven new airports across the state.
However, with most airlines cutting capacity and putting expansion plans on the back burner due to skyrocketing fuel costs, the state has been forced to roll back plans for airports at Phaltan, Dhule, Karad and Chandrapur.
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