Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday announced that his government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of two Dornier turboprop aircraft that will be used for ferrying passengers.
In a first, this plane will be used for civilian purpose. The 19-seater “Made-in-India” jet is currently being used by Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
The Chief Minister said that his government is committed to enhance the connectivity in the state.
Speaking at the curtain raiser event of Defence Expo 2020 here, he said, “We are going to start flying two Dornier aircraft for ferrying passengers from Lucknow. We will sign MoU with HAL for procurement of two Dornier aircraft. It will be flown from Lucknow to Varanasi, Lucknow to Bareilly and Lucknow to Agra. It will also be used for ferrying passengers to other cities in the state.”
The chief minister also said when his government came to power only two airports were functional. “Now, there are 6 airports are operational and soon we will have 11,” he added.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that government main focus is to make India a defence manufacturing destination.
“We cannot survive too long importing defence equipment. Our aim is to achieve self-reliance. So DefExpo2020 is a very important event,” Mr Singh said.
He also said, “India cannot remain dependent on imports when it comes to defence. Our aim is to develop India as a major defence manufacturing hub.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 11th edition of biennial mega defence show Defence Expo on Wednesday.
The show will culminate on February 9. A total of 1028 companies, including 128 foreign firms are participating in this event.
