At a meeting held recently, the Union Cabinet approved Rs 358.94 crores for the construction of Sikkim’s first airport at Pakyong near Gangtok. The Greenfield airport has been given to Airport Authority of India (AAI) on a build-on-and-operate basis, wherein the construction, maintenance and operation will be done by AAI. The airport is expected to be operational in the next two years. The Central and Sikkim state government will provide 90 per cent of the funds needed for the construction of the airport. The remaining ten per cent will be provided by the AAI out of its own resources. AAI has already drawn the blue print and prepared the detailed project report for the 1170-metre long airport.
Explaining the importance of the long held up airport construction to the growing tourism scene in the state, SBS Bhadauria, Secretary, Sikkim Tourism said, “Our state, hosting the highest number of international tourist traffic in the entire North East region, has been looking forward to an airport eagerly as absence of it was not pushing the traffic stupendously. |