Source: By Anil Sharma, Indo-Asian News Service
Jaipur, Feb 10 (IANS) Enthused by a spurt in tourist arrivals, Rajasthan is
planning to construct airstrips in six towns of the state. Three of the new
airstrips would be in Jhalawar, Pali and Banswara.
The sites for the other three airfields are yet to be finalised. "The Planning
Commission has already approved a sum of Rs.100 million ($2 million) for the
construction of airstrips in six places," a senior official of the state
tourism department told IANS.
"The money is over and above the Rs.50 million sanctioned by the state
government to construct airstrips in Jhalawar, Pali and Banswara," the
official said. These three airstrips were slated to come up in the current year
itself.
The plan to build airstrips is mainly aimed at boosting tourism in the desert
state. While Rajasthan has a number of airstrips and helipads, the commercial
airlines offer services mainly to the cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur
and sometimes to Jaisalmer.
The official said air taxi operators (ATOs) would be encouraged to expand their
services in the state. The use of the government's existing airstrips numbering
19 and some other facilities has already been offered to ATOs, he said.
Rajasthan continues to be one of the most favourite tourism destinations in
the world, witnessing an unprecedented growth of more than 50 percent in domestic
and foreign tourist influx.
The state witnessed a record arrival of more than 600,000 foreign tourists and
12.5 million domestic tourists in 2003. In the first six months of 2004 the
number of foreign tourists went up 63 percent and of domestic by 33 percent.
"In the first six months from January to July 2004, 5.4 million domestic
tourists and more than 380,000 foreign tourists visited the state. This is
a record," the official of the tourism department said.
Travel agents and tour operators are happy with the government's plan.
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