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All new National Highways to have helipads: Jyotiraditya Scindia
The Union minister also urged states to reduce VAT on Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) for facilitating air connectivity to Tier-II, Tier-III cities.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday announced that all the national highways will have helipads for immediate evacuation during emergencies. Speaking at civil aviation minister's conference, Scindia said that they have had talks with the ministry of road transport regarding the project to ensure the infrastructure is in place.
"We had talks with the Ministry of Road Transport that all the new highways should have helipads along them so that infrastructure is in place. Helipads on national highways will help in immediate evacuations during emergencies," Jyotiraditya Scindia said.
The delegates of the civil aviation ministry were present at the event organized in the national capital.
Scindia also urged states to reduce VAT on Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) for facilitating air connectivity to Tier-II, Tier-III cities, noting that the VAT on jet fuel is still high in eight states and Union Territories in the range of 20-30 per cent. He requested Assam, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Punjab governments to reduce VAT on ATF for the growth of civil aviation sector in their states.
He also promised to increase air connectivity in these states if they reduce VAT on ATF.
"I urge you (eight states) politely to reduce VAT on ATF. I promise you to increase the aeroplane connectivity in your states," Scindia said.
Talking about the 12 states that had lowered VAT on ATF several months back, he said the frequency of flights to those states increased because "aeroplanes will go where raw materials are cheap. And ATF constitutes between 45-50 per cent of the total cost of the airline sector."
"The ATF of these 12 states was 1-4 per cent, and the ATF of 26 states was 20-30 per cent. In the last one-and-a-half year, the graph of the ATF has increased from ₹53,000 per km to ₹1.40 lakh per km. In the last few months, there is a reduction in ATF of almost 20 per cent but the most cost-affecting part of the airline sector is still ATF," Scindia said.
(With inputs from ANI)
