Lucknow, June 24: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has thanked the Central Government for the approval to make the district’s Kushinagar Airport an international airport.
He forwarded his heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the establishment of a new International Airport in Kushinagar, city where Buddha attained ‘Mahaparinirvan’ in Uttar Pradesh.
The Chief Minister said that he is also thankful to the Union Cabinet, which has given its approval for providing second International Airport to Uttar Pradesh at the time of our Government.
Just two airports in a state with a population of 23 crores is not enough
He said that prior to this, the Union Cabinet had approved the Jewar International Airport in Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida), which had been pending in the state for decades. Currently, two airports are under operation as International Airport one in Lucknow and another in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh, a state with a population of about 23 crore, did not have enough airports.
Work will start soon at Jewar International Airport
The Chief Minister assured that the proposal for Jewar International Airport in the NCR region was sent to the Central Government, which was also agreed by the Central Government and now Jewar Airport is going to be included in the 100 best projects in the world. We will start work on this under-construction airport very soon and develop it as an international airport.
Development of Purvanchal region will get progress
He said that this day is very important for us, for years the international airport was being sought for Kushinagar, the ‘Mahaparinirvana’ place of Gautam Buddha. This proposal was pending for a long time.
“The development of Purvanchal region will gain momentum once the International Airport is established at Kushinagar, the Nirvana site of Gautam Buddha. It is a matter of great pride for Uttar Pradesh that many important places related to the life of Gautam Buddha are located here. These include Sarnath, Shravasti, Kapilvastu, Kaushambi, Sankisa etc. including Kushinagar. Lord Buddha’s birthplace Lumbni and ascetic site Bodhgaya are not far from here,” CM added.
Yogi further said that the government is working to connect the Buddhist sites with the Buddhist circuit.
Citing the works of the state government, he said that the work is being done to connect the places connected with Mahatma Buddha through the Buddhist circuit, which will make it easy for tourists and devotees from India and abroad to reach these places connected with Lord Buddha. .
Followers of Buddhism from many countries will be able to come
The Chief Minister said that the international airport of Kushinagar will contribute significantly in our efforts. Once this airport is operational, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and many other countries of the world, followers of Buddhism and other tourists will be able to visit the Buddhist sites located in the state.
New employment opportunities will be created
He said that the establishment of Kushinagar International Airport will not only increase the speed of tourism related methods in the state, but will also create new employment opportunities in large numbers. For the establishment of Kushinagar Airport, the Uttar Pradesh government started construction by purchasing about 590 acres of land.
After this, about 95 percent of the airport establishment was completed through the rights of the Government of India, issuing an amount of 190 crore rupees for the construction of the airport. These include 3200 x 45 m runway and ACC (Air Control Centre) tower etc.
Projects pending for 20 years will get wings
“The state government had also signed a MoU with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) on March 05, 2019 for further development of the airport. After this, the AAI was entrusted with the responsibility to take further action. The transfer process of the project was completed on 04 October 2019,” Yogi apprised.
He said that with the cooperation of the Central Government, the State Government got success in the direction of landing the Noida International Airport project which has been pending for 20 years. With the airport paving way, new doors of possibilities will open in Uttar Pradesh.
It is worth mentioning that in the Union Cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, Kushinagar Airport has been approved to be declared an International Airport.
