Margao: Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has said that he would proceed to Delhi after the Assembly session to pursue and protect the interests of Dabolim airport, even as Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik sought to remind bureaucrats that the decision to retain Dabolim as an international airport was taken by none other than the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.
Both Kamat and Naik pleaded ignorance of the reported decision by the Public Investment Board as reported by a section of a press rejecting proposal by the Airport Authority of India for upgradation of the Dabolim airport at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
“I am unaware of any such decision. In fact, I was told by the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel that he would come down to Goa to lay foundation stone for airport upgradation work at Dabolim,” Kamat said.
Saying that the decision of the Public Investment Board is not a setback to retaining Dabolim airport, the chief minister asserted that he would go to Delhi immediately after the Assembly session and meet the Civil Aviation Minister and other Central leaders on the subject.
The Rajya Sabha MP, when contacted, told Herald that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has given clear-cut assurances to retain Dabolim airport and that the Public Investment Board cannot overrule the PM’s assurances.
Saying that Goa is a special case unlike Bangalore and Hyderabad, Naik said the Union government will honour its commitment to retain Dabolim and sanction the promised funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore for the new terminal building and aero bridges.
24/08/08 Herald Publications
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