The Centre has drawn up an ambitious Rs 1,232 crores plan to expand and upgrade Guwahati airport which will see an increase in the terminal passenger capacity from 50 lakh to 1 crore 20 lakh per year, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has said.
Flagging off the first direct flight of Indigo Airlines on the Guwahati to Pune route on Wednesday, the minister also said that “Guwahati is now connected with 24 cities of the country with 885 aircraft movements.”
The commencement of the flight operations on this route will assist the people of Guwahati and its adjoining areas as well as passengers from Pune with seamless movement between the two cities, the minister said.
Due to non-availability of any direct mode of transport, people had to suffer long journeys of more than 45 hours by road or train. Now, people can travel easily between the two cities by opting for a flight of 3 hours 15 minutes, he explained.
Highlighting the importance of Guwahati, the minister said it is called as the “city of temples” owing to the presence of temples such as Kamakhya Temple, Navagraha Temple and Umananda Temple. Moreover, the city is one of the largest tea markets in the country, accounting for 55% of the country’s tea exports. In addition, Guwahati is home to oil refineries and education institutions such as IIT and TISS, he added.
