Chopper joyride at Statue of Unity and white desert soon

The public will very soon be able to enjoy a 10-minute joyride on a chopper at the Statue of Unity site and at the white desert in Kutch. The Gujarat government is going to sign an MOU with companies interested in extending this service at these two sites. The tourism department and civil aviation department of the Gujarat government is in the final stages of commissioning the services and it is possible that it will be available from as soon as the Vibrant Gujarat Summit or the beginning of January 2019.

The tourism secretary in Gujarat government, SJ Haider, said, "The helicopter service will be a kind of a joyride for visitors at the SOU and the white desert. This will add to the charm of these places, as visitors will have the opportunity of getting an aerial view of both of these enchanting sites."

"Up to March, we are going to allow all interested service providers to run choppers at these sites. After considering the response from the public and standard of operations by the service providers, we will choose one or two operators who will operate on a permanent basis. They will get the viability gap fund from the state government," Haider added. The secretary also said that providing the viability gap fund from the state government would begin from March 2019.

Besides this, the government is also planning to initiate a cruise ship service at Porbandar.

Haider said, "We are talking to the Amsterdam Cruise service for this. This project also will begin soon here." The state government will also sign MOUs with the service providers of seaplanes during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. The seaplane service will be available at four places in the state, including the Statue of Unity, Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Dharoi Dam in Mehsana and Shetrunji dam reservoir in Bhavnagar district.

BETTING BIG ON TOURISM

• The viability gap fund from the state government would begin from March next year
   
• The state will sign MoUs with service providers of seaplanes during VGS