Hardeep S Puri holds high level meeting with State Governments on issues related to Civil Aviation via VC
As part of the ongoing series of meetings with States and UT s on giving further thrust to the Civil Aviation sector in the country, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State(I/c) for Civil Aviation today held another high level meeting with H’ble Ministers, Chief secretaries of West Bengal, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Along with laying stress on the need for reducing VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) with immediate effect it was also informed by the Secretary, MoCA that the ministry has been requesting GST council to consider ATF to be brought within the ambit of GST and states support was also requested in this matter so that Domestic Airlines can sustain their commercial operations. The other important issues as below were discussed and brought to the fore
- possibilities of further expansion of Kolkata and Durgapur Airports
- strategy for Flight operation from Coochbehar RCS Airport
- issues related to development and airport expansion of Bagdogra Airport
- request from state government to start seaplane operations from Digha
- a detailed status update of the new airports in Uttar Pradesh was also discussed.
The meeting ended with assurance being expressed by states for considering the reduction of VAT on ATF and active support for UDAN routes for the growth of aviation sector.
RJ/PS