CHANDIGARH: Within twenty four hours of the ruling party in Punjab announcing major plans for expansion of the aviation sector, including the setting up of five pilot and cabin crew training schools, the government Thursday gave green signal in principle to a proposal for setting up world class pilot training centers in the state.

An official spokesperson of the Punjab government said here Thursday that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has directed state Chief Secretary to approach the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for early clearance of the proposal to upgrade the facilities at Ludhiana and Patiala airports. One of the key issues relates to the provision of night landing facility at these airports. In addition, the state government also wants the DGCA to review the altitude norms for the Sahnewal airport to permit flying above 3500 feet.

The Chief Minister was keen that the state must not miss the aviation boom the way it had missed the IT and BT booms. He has asked the state government officials to invite leading flying schools in the world to set up their centers in the state. The system of open bidding would be followed to get the best service providers in, said the official spokesperson.

The official statement today came after  a meeting between the state Chief Minister  Parkash Singh Badal and representatives of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) led by their local unit president, Harvinder Singh. The meeting centered round discussions on expanding the facility  to impart training to the Punjabi youth  so that they could take up commercial flying as their profession.  He said that with the expansion of air and cargo services India has a tremendous potential to utilize the services of these trained commercial pilots. 

Badal said that the state government would come out with the tender within a month inviting flying academies/ institutes of repute to run the existing flying clubs at Patiala and Ludhiana in the first and Amritsar in the second phase in private public partnership mode. 

Harvinder Singh who is presently running a flying club at his native village Jassowal in district Ludhiana requested the Chief Minister to allow him for expansion of the club to cater to the growing demand of training for seeking the commercial pilot license.

Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Media Advisor to Chief Minister Harcharan Bains, Chief Secretary RI Singh and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister D.S. Guru.