Lucknow: After investing over Rs 1 trillion in highway projects, the Uttar Pradesh government is now banking big on the aviation industry to fuel the state’s economic growth. Air travel, which includes both business and pleasure travel, is predicted to boost the socioeconomic environment by attracting new investment.
It would also improve infrastructure and provide employment. The Yogi Adityanath government is promoting the construction of major airports, such as the international aviation hub at Jewar in Greater Noida. It is also constructing heliports in popular tourist destinations at Agra, Mathura, and Lucknow. The heliport projects will be granted to operators through competitive bidding under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Indeed, the UP tourist department has already picked five businesses to create heliport infrastructure and run chopper services on the Agra-Meerut route. Fly Blade India, Rajas Adventure, Oasis, Shaurya Aeronautics, and Shirisha Technologies are among the five firms. Rajas Adventure operates seaplanes in Gujarat and Fly Blade conducts aviation services in Shirdi (Maharashtra). The financial bids of these enterprises will be opened soon, a state government official stated.
The heliport services are set to begin in all important religious and ecotourism destinations around the state. The administration is optimistic about aviation’s potential, noting that inbound tourist traffic to Uttar Pradesh has increased by about 27% in the previous five years.
During this time, the state received almost 1.25 billion domestic visitors and 12.5 million foreign backpackers. In the post-Covid context, the tourist and hospitality sectors are rapidly recovering. It is causing a surge in demand for hotel rooms and other hospitality services, the source explained. The UP government issued a new tourist policy in 2018, which has so far resulted in 1,084 tourism development projects worth Rs 3,000 crore. Several tourism projects were unveiled at the third groundbreaking event on June 3, 2022 in Lucknow.