New Delhi: To strengthen the state’s opportunities in the civil aviation sector, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with the Government of Bihar and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organised a conference that brought together experts from the Indian aviation sector, here today.
At the conference, they discussed ways to promote airport infrastructure, heli-services, agro-business, and tourist destinations, increase regional connectivity, attract investment, and identify the business.
The conference was moderated by Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. Dr S Sidharth, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Bihar and Sandeep Pondrik, Principal Secretary, Government of Bihar, made presentations on the promotion of civil aviation in the state. Prashant Ranjan, Director, Ministry of Tourism, Manoj Mehta, Director, FICCI, Palka Sahni, Resident Commissioner, Government of Bihar and Ajay Yadav, Private Secretary to Minister of Civil Aviation were also present in the meeting.
A presentation on the Industry perspective was done by Captain Dhruv Rebbapragada, Regional Director, Safety, and member management board of Airbus India and South Asia.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation sees Bihar as one of the progressive states with immense growth potential. In recent years the state’s civil aviation sector has seen exponential growth in terms of air passengers, airport infrastructure and holds the key to link the state to the other states of the country. It is also taking ahead, the state’s Tourism, trade, and commerce with the rest of the world. The state has benefited immensely through the regular commercial operation of air services from Darbhanga airport since 2020. Darbhanga airport has direct flight connectivity with Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bangalore while Patna is now connected to Amritsar, Varanasi and Prayagraj under UDAN-2.0 scheme.
Civil Aviation is a key infrastructure sector that facilitates the growth of the business, and seamless flow of investment, trade, and tourism, with significant multiplier effects across the economy. Over a third of world trade by value is delivered by air and about half of international tourism is facilitated by air links.
– global bihari bureau
