3 SAIL cities to get air connectivity under UDAN scheme; Steel giant inks MoU with AAI

SAIL has signed a pact with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for utilisation of airstrips at its three facilities -- Rourkela, Bokaro and Burnpur -- under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN.
"Three steel cities of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) Rourkela, Bokaro and Burnpur belonging to states of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, respectively, will soon...
feature on the aviation map of India," the PSU said in a statement.
SAIL and AAI have signed an MoU on utilisation of airstrips under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) -UDAN, a flagship project of Government of India, it said.
The RCS-UDAN scheme, a flagship project of government of India launched by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), envisages enhancing the regional air connectivity by providing support in terms of infrastructure and other facilities.
"Under the MoU, AAI as an implementation agency under RCS-UDAN would be executing the required works before commencement of RCS flights at all these three airports. Eventually AAI will operate and manage airport operations for Burnpur, Rourkela and Bokaro airport, on behalf of SAIL for three years," SAIL said.
It said, start of operations at Rourkela, Bokaro and Burnpur airports under the RCS-UDAN would benefit the citizens of these cities through better connectivity and also speed up the developmental activities in the region.
The RCS-UDAN scheme envisages enhancing the regional air connectivity by providing support in terms of infrastructure and other facilities.
Under the MoU, AAI as an implementation agency under RCS-UDAN would be executing the required works before commencement of RCS flights at all these three airports. Eventually AAI will operate and manage Airport Operations for Burnpur, Rourkela and Bokaro Airport, on behalf of SAIL for three years, a late evening statement from SAIL said.
Earlier, the Maharatna PSU had supplied 6.20 lakh tonnes of rails to the Indian Railways in 2016-17.
SAIL also supplied about 70 per cent of steel for Mizoram's biggest power project -- Tuirial Hydro Electric Power project -- dedicated to the nation on December 17 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. SAIL said it has supplied approximately 5,000 metric tonnes of plates, structural and TMTs for this project including value added steel plates. SAIL is supplying steel for several vital infra projects in the country. SAIL also supplied steel for projects including Bogibeel Rail-cum-Road Bridge, several power plants including 750 MW power plant of NTPC, 600 MW Kameng Hydro- electric project, Trans Arunachal highway etc.