Kangra Airport Expansion: Rs 3,500 Crore Compensation to Land Owners

Shimla, Oct 21 (PTI) A total of Rs 3,500 crore would be paid as compensation and for rehabilitation to land owners for the acquisition of land for the expansion of Kangra airport, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Monday.

The process of disbursement of compensation would start with the award of the amount to land owners of village Jugehar of Shahpur area in Kangra district, Sukhu said.

In a statement issued here on Monday, he said that in total Rs 3500 crore approximately would be provided to land owners for compensation as well as rehabilitation and resettlement.

Sukhu said that the land owners of Jugehar village have welcomed the move of the state government to award the compensation amount as it was their long pending demand and a total of Rs 32.50 crore would be disbursed to the land owners of Jugehar.

He said that the expansion of Kangra Airport was a priority for the present state government to give a fillip to the tourism sector in the region. The airport expansion was expected to significantly boost the tourism industry and support the government's vision of establishing Kangra district as the Tourism Capital of the state, he maintained.

He said that under the proposed expansion of Kangra airport, the runway length would be extended from 1376 meters to 3010 meters, enabling the operations of A320 type of aircraft.

The Chief Minister said that expansion of Kangra airport would open new doors of employment and self-employment opportunities thereby bringing economic prosperity for the people of the Kangra district.