Coming Soon: An International Airport In Punjab’s Ludhiana

The Punjab Cabinet approved the development of a new international civil terminal at the Indian Air Force’s Halwara station near Ludhiana on Monday (3 November), The New Indian Express has reported.

The state Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, gave its nod to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the international civil terminal with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). As of now, Punjab has two international airports at Mohali and Amritsar. The AAI and the Punjab government will jointly develop the new international airport at Halwara through a joint venture company (JVC).

AAI will hold the majority 51 per cent stake in the project while the Punjab government, through the Greater Ludhiana Development Authority (GLADA), will have a 49 per cent stake. As per the report, Punjab government, by way of its equity in the project, would provide 135.54 acres of land free of cost to the JVC.

While AAI would be taking care of the capital expenditure on development, the JVC would be responsible for the subsequent expenditure on the operation, maintenance and repairs of the new airport. According to the report, within three years, 54 acres area of the airport is expected to be ready for handling full-fledged operations of aircraft up to Code-4C type.

The project is aimed at boosting the economic development of Ludhiana, which is the industrial and business hub of Punjab.