Bhopal: ‘Helicopters and Small Aircrafts Summit’ was held in Pune (Maharashtra) under the chairmanship of Union Aviation Minister Shri Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu. Madhya Pradesh was the state sponsor of this summit. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Muralidhar Mohol, Shri Asangba Chuba Ao, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India and Shri Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Director General, DGCA were also present in the summit. 20 states participated in the summit. The delegation of Madhya Pradesh was led by Deputy Secretary, Aviation Department, Madhya Pradesh Government Dr. Kailash Bundela in the ‘Helicopters and Small Aircrafts Summit’. Information was given about Madhya Pradesh Civil Aviation Policy-2025. He appealed to the investors to participate in the flight of Madhya Pradesh. The aviation policy of the state has been formulated keeping in mind all aspects of the value chain and the policy has provision for investment promotion assistance for setting up air services, maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO), flight training institute (FTO) from airports located in the state to new destinations. He told the investors that 200 commercial pilots are being trained in the state every year, which is the highest in the country.
Deputy Secretary Dr. Bundela told that this service has been running in Madhya Pradesh for 1 year and in the last financial year, there were 58 beneficiaries of this service. He told that the Union Civil Aviation Minister appreciated the efforts of the state government and emphasized on using this service as much as possible. It is noteworthy that the country’s only training institute for pilots is in Khajuraho and there is a need for helicopter pilots in the country. Deputy Secretary, Aviation Dr. Bundela requested at the summit to start airport construction work as soon as possible on the airstrips in Madhya Pradesh which are proposed to be upgraded and expanded into airports. Along with this, he also requested to provide 80:20 VGF on ‘State Sponsored Routes’ under the Udan scheme like RCS routes. He told that at the summit, investors said that they will come to Bhopal and discuss in detail about the investment.
