Haryana becomes stakeholder in Chandigarh intn'l airport

Chandigarh, Jan 4 (UNI) In a sudden turn of events, Haryana today became a last-minute stakeholder in the proposed Chandigarh International Airport which was so far being projected as Mohali airport by the Punjab government.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of airport at Mohali, which was to be signed between Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) of Punjab this evening, suddenly became a tripartite affair with the Haryana government also becoming a signatory to it.

Union Minister of State Praful Patel said in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) the AAI would have 51 per cent share while Punjab and Haryana would have to equal share in the remaining 49 per cent.

Asked about the name of the proposed airport , Mr Patel said it would be known as Chandigarh International Airport and would be completed in a year's time.

The last-minute turnaround came after Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda insisted that the state be made a stakeholder in the airport as Chandigarh was the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr Patel, Mr Hooda Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Union Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Chief Administrator GMADA V P Singh, AAI Chairman K Ramalingam and Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister M L Tayal signed the MoU on behalf of Governments of Punjab, the Centre and Haryana respectively.

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