Bhubaneswar to Paradip helicopter service by Pawan Hans

Pawan Hans Ltd, a New Delhi-based helicopter company, has evinced interest to launch commercial helicopter service from Bhubaneswar to Paradip and other tourist destinations of Odisha.

The company had a meeting in this regard with chief secretary GC Pati in the presence of senior officials at the State Secretariat on Saturday.

The meeting also discussed the launch of Bhubaneswar-Puri, Bhubaneswar-Konark and Bhubaneswar-Chilika helicopter services by the company for promotion of tourism infrastructure in the state.

Principal secretary, General Administration GVV Sarma said there was a detailed discussion on the proposal for launching Bhubaneswar-Paradip helicopter service to begin with.

“The company has requested the state government to provide subsidy and other support for one or two years since it cannot run full-fledged commercial service as per the sunk-cost assessment in the initial phase. It was decided that the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) would examine the request of the company and if necessary, the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) can also be roped in. Both the PPL and the IOCL will examine the requirement of Pawan Hans and accordingly take a decision,” he added.

Chief Engineer, PPT, Ramachandra Rao said Pawan Hans till now has not mentioned its requirement. PPT can provide a helipad, guest rooms and fire fighting facilities for five months.

Besides being a port town, Paradip has been emerging as a major industrial centre in the State with IOCL setting up its refinery and a petrochemical complex while Essar Group is putting up a steel project there.