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Pune’s Murlidhar Mohol gets civic aviation, cooperation ministries
Civil aviation is considered important for the city given that Pune airport is aiming for expansion while a proposal for a new airport at Purandar has been in the pipeline
Pune MP and newly sworn-in Minister of State (Mos) in Union Cabinet Murlidhar Mohol has been allocated two crucial portfolios of Civil Aviation and Cooperation, as per the announcement on Monday evening from Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Civil aviation is considered important for the city given that Pune airport is aiming for expansion while a proposal for a new airport at Purandar has been in the pipeline. Since Pune doesn’t have a dedicated civil airport, there are limitations in flight operations from Lohegaon airbase, which operates under the Ministry of Defence.
Mohol is the third person from the city to join the Union cabinet, after Suresh Kalmadi of Congress and Prakash Javadekar of BJP. He is also the second Lok Sabha MP from Pune to become a union minister in nearly 30 years, following Kalmadi, since Javadekar was a Rajya Sabha member.
On being asked about getting an important portfolio like Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation and Ministry of Civil Aviation, Mohol said “I have said earlier too that I will do every work that is allotted to me with complete seriousness. I am happier about the fact that I will be working under the leadership of Amit Shah as cabinet minister for Cooperation.”
After the allocation of portfolios were announced, many hoped that Mohol with civil aviation would be able to work on the Pune airport project.
“Just spoke to the new MOS for Civil Aviation and MOS for Cooperation our very own Murlidhar Mohol. This is by far the biggest boost for Pune’s economy, infrastructure, and connectivity. Looking forward to working closely with Murli Anna,” said industrialist and former MCCIA president Sudhir Mehta.
Prashant Girbane, director general, MCCIA, said, “MCCIA would be looking forward to working with you on ‘better civil aviation days ahead’ for the Pune region (SIC).”
Amit Paranjape, a city-based entrepreneur, posted on X, “Civil Aviation is an important area for Pune... as most Punekars know! :) Great to hear that Murlidhar Mohol is getting this portfolio.”
The Ministry of Cooperation is also considered crucial as western Maharashtra has many cooperative institutions including sugar mills and credit societies. The cabinet minister for Cooperation is Amit Shah.
