Punjab plans strong takeoff for airports

The Punjab government has sent a proposal to the civil aviation ministry for setting up an international airport in Mohali — the second in the state after Amritsar — near Chandigarh.

The state government also proposes to develop Bathinda, an air base station, and the airport in the industrial town of Ludhiana, which gets one flight a day, into full-fledged domestic airports.

“The work for Mohali airport entails building an international terminal near the existing Chandigarh station of the IAF,” said a senior Punjab civil aviation official who was here a few days ago to discuss the proposal with the ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The airports at Mohali and Bathinda are proposed to be developed by the AAI while Ludhiana airport is likely to be developed through a private-public partnership.