Tender out to ready Ambala airport in six months
An administrative approval of ₹16 crore has been received for various works for the Ambala airport; initially, an amount of ₹3.76 crore will be spent on the construction of reception areas at the terminal
With Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar set to lay the foundation stone of the domestic airport in Ambala Cantonment on October 15, the Haryana State Roads and Bridges Development Corporation (HSRDC) has allotted the tender for the construction work, officials said on Friday.
After the foundation-stone ceremony on October 15, construction at the terminal will commence and is likely to be completed within six months, as per Anil Dahiya, managing director, HSRDC.
“An administrative approval of ₹16 crore has been received for various works. Initially, an amount of ₹3.76 crore will be spent on the construction of reception areas at the terminal by Zirakpur-based M/s Aggarwal Engineers and Contractors. Later, other works like parking, and arrival and departure areas will be carried out. Tenders will be floated accordingly,” Dahiya told HT.
The airport or Civil Enclave, as it is called, coming up under Union ministry of civil aviation’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Udaan 3.0, will take up flight operations from the airport using an Indian Air Force (IAF) strip. Buses will ferry passengers to the aircraft from the terminal. Initially, the airport is expected to have flights to Varanasi and Srinagar.
On Friday, home minister Anil Vij assisted by deputy commissioner Shaleen, Dahiya, IGP Sibash Kabiraj, SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa and officials from various departments inspected the event site and issued instructions.
Vij said other than the CM, deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, and various MPs and MLAs will also attend the ceremony, while an invitation had also been sent to Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia and minister of state for civil aviation VK Singh.
Airport will enhance development, employment opportunities: Vij
Speaking to reporters, Vij said due to its strategic location, the airport will cater to passengers from Haryana, Western UP, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and being at the centre of Ambala City, it will provide direct connectivity to NH-44, railway junction and bus stand.
“There is no doubt that an airport uplifts the status of a city and attracts investors. With the construction of this airport, businessmen will be able to travel to Ambala daily from various major cities of the country. This will give a boost to the already established industries and provide employment,” he added.
In the works since 2018
Situated nearly 50 km from Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport in Mohali, the project here was approved in December 2018, but was in limbo for several years primarily due to land-related issues near the strategically important IAF base with Rafale aircraft.
Officials said after a series of deliberations, defence minister Rajnath Singh sanctioned 20 acres of defence land on NH-444A (Ambala-Saha highway or Jagadhari Road) in the dairy farms area of the army for the terminal in exchange for ₹133 crore. The amount was deposited by the state government last month.
Vij said he had also written to the defence minister to widen the stretch of road from Capitol Chowk to GT Road near Jaggi City Centre outside the airport from current two lanes to four lanes to ease traffic movement.
DC Shaleen said the project layout had been prepared and a team of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security had also already visited the site from the security point of view.
