The Bihar government has decided to buy a jet engine aircraft and an advanced helicopter to replace the faulty ones for the movement of top political executives and senior bureaucrats, additional chief secretary (cabinet) S Siddharth said here on Tuesday.
The top official said the state cabinet, at its meeting chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar, approved the civil aviation department’s proposal to purchase the new aircraft for long-distance travel and helicopter in place of the outdated aircraft and faulty chopper for the government’s use. It was among the seven proposals that were discussed and approved by the cabinet.
“A high-level committee headed by the chief secretary would be constituted to finalise specifications and modalities to purchase the aircraft and the chopper. The committee will submit its report within three months,” said Siddharth, who also heads the civil aviation department.
He said the state currently has a six-seater propeller powered aircraft (King Air C-90A/B-VTEBG) and a Dauphin helicopter, which suffer from mechanical faults and are being repaired. “The cabinet has decided to purchase a new jet engine plane (10+2 seater) and an advance helicopter for the movement of VIPs and VVIPs,” he said.
The old aircraft and helicopter will be used for training and tourism purposes after thorough repairs.
The process to purchase the new jet engine plane and a helicopter will start once the committee submit its report to the government.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the state’s building construction department and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for proper maintenance and development of the state’s different online services pertaining to building construction. The NIC will also develop online system for monitoring the execution of ongoing projects and manage the allocation of houses and collection of taxes in a transparent manner.
The cabinet gave its go-ahead to the industries department’s proposal to extend financial assistance to three industrial units, Jayadayal Hightex private limited, Patel Agri Industries Pvt Ltd and Bharat Urja Distilleries Pvt Ltd, under the industrial investment promotion policy for capacity expansion.
