Shimla, Jul 23 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday requested Union Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu to recommend Kangra Airport's expansion project to the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for Special Central Assistance.

In a letter to the Union minister, the chief minister said that the state has to acquire approximately 150 hectares of land for the proposed expansion of the airport. It has started the process and awards for more than Rs 1900 crore are ready, and Rs 410 crore have been disbursed.

Stating that the statutory stipulated period of one year is ending in August this year, he asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation to recommend this project to the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for Special Central Assistance.

Sukhu also wrote that the Techno-Economic Feasibility Report of Kangra Airport should also be reviewed for arriving at a realistic assessment of cost by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as it was on a higher side.

He also urged for exploring the possibility of entering into a tripartite agreement with AAI, Himachal Pradesh and a private partner for the expansion of Kangra Airport.

He said that Kangra Airport currently operates under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) requiring a minimum visibility of 5 kilometers for flight operations and urged to make a provision for introduction of Special VFR operations to reduce the minimum visibility criteria from existing five kilometers to 2.5 kilometers to ensure operation of flights during reduced visibility conditions.

Kangra Airport is the biggest and busiest airport in Himachal Pradesh, therefore, it shall be equipped with night-landing facilities, he said, and asked for deployment of Himachal Pradesh State Police instead of CISF for airport security at Kullu and Shimla airports on the analogy of Kangra Airport.

He urged for extending watch hours for the flight's operations at Shimla airport from 1.00 pm to 4.00 pm, providing a larger window for the operation of flights.

Sukhu also requested to provide a second apron at Shimla airport to increase flight operations and support multiple flight operations from Shimla Airport. He also asked for resuming daily flight operations on Shimla-Dharamshala-Shimla sector by Alliance Air Ltd. PTI BPL MNK MNK

Special Central Assistance request seeks recommendation for Kangra Airport expansion and operational relaxations to boost flight services. Request for Special Central Assistance recommending the Kangra Airport expansion to central finance authorities, with state land acquisition underway, partial project disbursements made, and a call for AAI review of the Techno-Economic Feasibility Report; proposes a tripartite AAI-state-private delivery model and operational measures including Special VFR, night-landing capability, extended watch hours, an additional apron at Shimla, and state police deployment for airport security.