5.6.10

Gujarat sets up own aviation company

The Gujarat government announced the setting up of Gujarat State Aviation Company (GUJSAC) to build infrastructure and provide trained manpower for the fast-growing civil aviation sector. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) responsible for roping in private sector in developing civil aviation facilities on a build-operatetransfer (BOT) model, GUJSAC will study and finalise proposals from private players in a wide area, including constructing airport terminals, air strips, hangars, helipads, flying and gliding clubs and aero sports facilities. It will also look into proposals to train pilots, ground engineers and other personnel. In a statement, government spokespersons Jay Narayan Vyas and Saurabh Patel said, GUJSAC will operate as an “autonomous enterprise”. State tourism and civil aviations secretary Vipul Mittra will be its chairman and managing-director (CMD), while a senior IAS official in the chief minister’s office, AK Sharma, and Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd MD Anup Shukla, will be its two directors. It is not clear if any non-government directors will be appointed in GUJSAC. To start with, the state government proposes to invest Rs 9 crore in the financial year 2010-11 in developing the sector. In its remarks on the provision, state budget papers for the current financial year say that as the aviation sector is one of the fastest developing, the government will “create infrastructure in aviation such as airports, air strips, aviation training institution, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), regional air lines, cargo complex and meteorological facilities”. Particularly specifying the need to develop airports for regional connectivity to promote religious tourism, the budget papers say, the state government has “short-listed” Dwarka, Palitana, Ambaji and Morbi. Meanwhile, to provide air connectivity within the state, the state government has roped in two private airlines, Luan and Ventura, to begin operations between important towns. Eight flights will daily connect Bhuj, Rajkot and Jamnagar to Ahmedabad and Surat.

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