Aurangabad, Feb 16:
The proposal to rename Kolhapur and Shirdi airports along with Aurangabad in the state has reached the union government and a decision is likely to be taken in the next cabinet meeting, said union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karad told reporters here on Wednesday. He said that the central government had received a proposal to rename 13 airports, adding that former MP Chandrakant Khaire did not know what was going on at the center. Two days ago, Khaire had met the union Minister of Civil Aviation and made a statement on renaming the airport.
After presenting the union Budget, Dr Karad arrived in the city on Wednesday. When asked by reporters about the renaming of the airport, he said, "When Hardeep Singh Puri was the civil aviation minister, a proposal was made to rename the airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport." At that time, he handed over a letter to the Prime Minister's office. After that, the PM office again sent a letter to the civil aviation ministry asking how many airports in the country are proposed to be renamed. The ministry also sent a letter to each state asking for information. It was found that there were proposals to rename 13 airports. The current minister of the department is Jyotiraditya Scindia and it is likely that he will put forward a joint proposal, said Dr Karad.