By IANS,
Raipur : Major towns in Chhattisgarh will soon be connected by intra-state air services.
A cabinet meet presided over by Chief Minister Raman Singh late Tuesday agreed in principle to a civil aviation ministry proposal for connecting at least eight major towns in the state by air.
The services, involving small aircraft, will be operated by private carriers, officials said Wednesday.
The department had invited expressions of interests from airline companies last month for services connecting capital Raipur, industrial towns Korba, Raigarh and Bhilai, besides Bilaspur, Jashpur, Ambikapur and Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar region.
The officials said that out of the six companies that responded, two companies were short-listed. A committee headed by Chief Secretary P. Joy Oommen would look into the issues involved.
“Hopefully, the flight services will be operational by November or December,” an official said.
Korba, 246 km north of Raipur, has several thermal power plants while Raigarh, 243 km northeast, has dozens of steel and sponge iron units.