Assam Govt to hand over land to Civil Aviation Ministry for new airport at Silchar by 10 May: CM

April 12: Assam Government is all prepared to hand over land to the Civil Aviation Ministry by 10 May, 2022 for construction of new Airports at Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Silchar. To commemorate the completion of one year of the present state government in Assam, land for the airports will be handed over to the Union govt on 10 May. This was stated by Chief minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday during the inauguration of the First Flying Training Academy of North East at Lilabari Airport, North Lakhimpur.

Speaking during the occasion, the Chief Minister said, “Airports at Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Silchar has been sharing the common facility with the Indian Air Force. As a result, the people face much difficulties due to lack of proper means of communication. A few days ago, I had a virtual meeting with the Civil Aviation Minister, JyotiradityaScindia, wherein I discussed strategies for improving the aviation sector in Assam.”

“Following this virtual meeting with the Minister, Assam government started the land acquisition process for building Lakhimpur Airport, Dibrugarh Airport, Jorhat Airport and Silchar Airport. Our government will hand over land for these new airports to the Civil Aviation Ministry by 10 May, 2022 to mark the completion of 1 year of state government,” added the Chief Minister.

For expansion & modernisation of existing airports in the State, GoA will hand over land to Civil Aviation Ministry by May 10, 2022.

Also, as requested by Scindia ji, our Govt will take an appropriate decision regarding reduction of VAT on aviation fuel.

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 12, 2022

CM Dr Sarma further said, “That means, on our part, there will be no pending works in this connection. We have already completed the land acquisition process for the new Airport at Silchar. Except for a small strip which needs to be handed over to the police, the rest works has been done as regards land acquisition of Lakhimpur Airport. Also, land acquisition for Dibrugarh Airport is almost over. For the land at Jorhat, I have released recently Rs.180 crore for this purpose. That means, we are on the track and ready to hand over the land to the Civil Aviation Ministry by 10 May, 2022.”

It needs mention here that on 16 March, 2022, Assam Cabinet sanctioned ₹50 crore for acquisition of 870 acres of land for Greenfield Airport at Silchar. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Dolu Tea Company Private Limited and various trade unions BCSU, BVCMS, CITU, representing the tea garden workers on Monday in connection with setting up of a proposed greenfield airport in the tea estate. As per a new proposal, around 2,500 bighas of land will be provided by the tea estate for construction of a Greenfield airport for Barak Valley.