With the proposal for an international airport at Jewar having been shot down by the Government of India, the Uttar Pradesh government has now proposed an international airport at the Buddhist destination of Kushinagar. “Apart from boosting tourism in the state as many domestic and foreign tourists visit the Buddhist circuit, the airport will ensure development to the area, besides generating employment in the eastern part of the state,” said Principal Secretary, Tourism, Avneesh Awasthi.
Recently, a group of senior officials of the department of tourism, civil aviation, irrigation, revenue, PWD and Special Area Development Authority visited Kushinagar to inspect the proposed site of the airport. The government is ready with an initial Project Definition Report. To prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR), it has hired a Mumbai-based consultancy company, ILFS Infrastructure and Development Corporation or IIDC. The DPR is expected to be ready shortly and will be presented to the Government of India next month. Since the approximate cost of the airport is Rs 600 crore, the state Government has decided to go in for public-private partnership for construction of the airport, for which technical bids would be invited next month.
“The problem with Jewar airport was its proximity to Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is not the case with Kushinagar,” said Awasthi. Kushinagar already has an airstrip at Kasia, five kilometres from the city and 51 kilometres from Gorakhpur aerodrome. The existing airstrip is 1,750 metres whereas for an international airport 3,300 to 4,000 metres long runway is needed for operations of Boeings.
The Buddhist circuit in cludes places like Sarnath Kushinagar, Sankisa Kaushambi, Shravasti and Kapilvastu which are visited by tourists from countries like Japan, Myanmar, Korea China, Taiwan, Thailand Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Last year, 41,000 foreign tourists visited Kushinaga area and the government ex pects the number to go up two lakh once the airport comes into existence. “We will ask the construction agency to take up not just the airport work but complete development of the area. Besides, a high-speed road between Kushinagar and Gorakhpur is proposed to connect it with the division headquarter,” a governmen official explained.
He added that the Buddhist tourist circuit has immense potential which remained un explored due to the lack of infrastructure facilities, which would undergo a sea change once the international airport comes up.
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