In an effort to connect to North-East states with the western part of the country, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia flagged off an IndiGo non-spot inaugurating Guwahati-Pune route.
"This flight is connecting the western part of India with the northeastern part of India. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is committed to fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolution to connect the North-Eastern states with the mainstream development, this flight is part of the resolution only," said Scindia.
"Till 2014, previous governments had built only six airports, in seven years, under the leadership of PM Modi, the central government have increased the number of airports in North-Eastern region from six to fifteen," he said.
However, Civil Aviation also requested the Assam government to reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) on air turbine fuel in their state.
"I request Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to reduce VAT on air turbine fuel. You people have reduced your VAT only for the flight inside Assam. Just open your fist, you will progress and you will be able to bring more and more flights here," said Scindia.
"If the tax on air turbine is not reduced, then our hands are tied. In about 20 states of the country, VAT has been limited from one to two per cent. Please come forward quickly and bring changes in this cabinet notification and reduce it as soon as possible so that connectivity is big," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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