Over to Hisar: New airport and aviation hub coming soon

Deepender Deswal in Hisar

Good news for the city: Hisar would soon get an airport. A feasibility report and the Centre’s approval have come in to air-link this counter-magnet city to other parts of the country. Capt DK Punia, executive director of Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation, said that initially the city would be linked to Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur. “The small distance air services would begin in the first phase. The 20 seat and 40-seat airplanes would be available on these routes,” he said. Flights to Mumbai, Ahmadabad and other far-off cities would start in the next phase. 

Plus, the Haryana government has expedited work on the Integrated Aviation Hub in the city. The government thinking is that besides a rise in demand for airport connectivity, there is urgent need for expanding services such as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and Fixed Base Operation (FBO). An official spokesman said the project would be developed over 3,000 acres adjoining the existing Hisar airfield which will also have features such as aircraft parking and transit facilities, an aerospace park and an aviation training centre. 

With an existing airstrip of 4,000 feet, spread on 3,000 acres of government owned land, the Haryana government has invited ‘global expression of interest’ for developing the proposed integrated aviation hub. Due to its close proximity with neighbouring airports and states including the National Capital region, Hisar could also serve as a potential location for commercial development, the official said.

The state government-appointed consultancy firm, Frost and Sullivan Consultancy Agency, submitted its feasibility report this week. Aviation department principal secretary Dr Mahavir Singh said the government would issue express of interest for the aviation players for initiating the work on the aviation hub. “It would be followed by a request for proposal (RFT). Only after the completion of the bidding process, the actual work would start. The state government is very keen on the project”, he said. State finance minister Capt Abhimanyu has said the Centre has selected Hisar for developing regional airports in different states under the National Civil Aviation policy 2016. “The airport will accelerate development in the area,” he said. 

The revenue department has demarcated about 2,000 acres for the proposed project and the major chunk of this land is owned by the state government. After the CM’s announcement in 2014, the site for the newly established Lala Lajpat Rai Veterinary and Animal Science University would be relocated. The MRO facility has already started at the airport as a Delhi-based firm Shaurya Aeronautics has been given a two-year contract. Krishan Kumar Lohia, former president of the Hisar Industries Association, said that the besides catering to the existing industry and commercial activities, the airport project would also effect a boom in the infrastructure and industrial sectors. The town has 500 small and big industries.

Professor NK Bishnoi of the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology (GJUST), who has been working on this project, said the state government should try to attract more industries and create Hisar a commercial hub to make the airport commercially successful. “The existing industries in Hisar are not air travel intensive. But, if big industry players such as the Jindals or the Goenkas, who belong to Hisar, shift base from Delhi, the airport would be a sure success”, he said.