Vidarbha will experience significant development this Navratri, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate three airports in Nagpur, Amravati, and Shirdi on October 9.
Nagpur is fully equipped for a world-class airport, with the GMR Group awarded the contract to operate Dr. Babasaheb International Airport. Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate the new terminal buildings in Amravati and Shirdi.
As per the local media report, there has been no official confirmation from the State Government regarding the attendance of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde or Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the ceremonies.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, the Minister of Revenue, will attend the function at Shirdi, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be present at the event in Nagpur.
The long-standing dispute between GMR and Nagpur’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport has been resolved with a recent Supreme Court judgment, providing relief to the Maharashtra Government. The work at Nagpur airport will now be divided among the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), and the GMR Group.
However, Amravati and Shirdi airports will be managed solely by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) as a joint venture, while GMR will carry out its work in a phasewise manner at Nagpur.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis actively pursued the development of the Amravati and Shirdi airports, which were his dream projects. The government’s decision to appoint Swati Pandey as the Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of MADC has proven beneficial. Within a year, she resolved major issues in MIHAN and also worked on the Amravati and Shirdi airports. Her weekly visits to Nagpur and Amravati helped gain momentum for many projects, including those related to Patanjali.
The Public Works Department constructed the airstrip at Amravati in 1992, which was taken over by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in 1997. It was later transferred to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC).