Rs 52-crore project anchors the government’s pitch that connectivity, not slogans, will drive the state’s growth
JAIPUR : A foundation stone was laid at Jaipur airport on Thursday, and the government wants the state to read it as a statement of intent. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma performed the bhoomi pujan of the new State Terminal, a Rs 52.35-crore project meant to upgrade how Rajasthan receives its dignitaries, investors and chartered flyers.
What is coming up
Phase one, costing Rs 19.62 crore, will deliver two VIP lounges, conference and meeting halls, ten rest rooms, a training room, a café and a security check area, designed to reflect Rajasthan’s cultural heritage. Phase two will add a hangar and tarmac for aircraft and helicopters on 12,778 square metres allotted by the Airports Authority of India.
Sharma placed the terminal within a wider story. He had urged the AAI to begin work on this very terminal in July 2024, and the government now points to delivery. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Jodhpur’s new terminal building on July 4, which, the CM said, lifts that airport’s capacity from 12 lakh to 20 lakh passengers a year. Work is under way on air links at Kota, Kishangarh, Barmer and Bikaner, flying training organisations are operating at Kishangarh and Hamirgarh, and land is being earmarked for more in Jhalawar, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Sri Ganganagar. Udaipur gets 145 acres for expansion.
The Chief Minister said Rs 10,228 crore has been allotted to Rajasthan’s railways this year, with works worth over Rs 76,800 crore in progress and 85 stations being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat scheme. On roads, he said the state has built 1,192 km of expressways, more than any other state, and carries a quarter of India’s national expressway network. Nine new greenfield expressways are under construction.
The pitch
The government’s argument is practical: farmers reach mandis faster, young people find work, industry moves goods cheaply and tourists travel easily. Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa, Chief Secretary V. Srinivasan and several MPs and MLAs attended.
