Bhopal (Madya Pradesh): The government wants its mid size jet state plane – which it intends to buy in the coming time - to be equipped with modern facilities. The bidding process for the state jet is already over and the government now is looking forward to assessing the technical and financial bid in the coming time. As per the documents accessed by Free Press, the government has rolled out many priorities in the Request for Proposal (RfP) to buy the twin engine jet airplane.
For instance, the aeroplane engines must be in compliance with noise environmental standards. The plane must be capable of carrying eight to ten passengers in the main cabin (excluding any jump seats, toilet seats, galley seats) plus two pilots. The aeroplane must be capable of flying day and night, must be equipped with one vacuum, electric flush toilet with door including vanity/ cabinet if any.
The aeroplane must be fully pressurized. The cabin dimension must be a minimum of 6 feet 0 inch (72 inch height). Most importantly, the government wants the aeroplane galley (compartment of aircraft where food is cooked and prepared) to be equipped with built-in appliances like microwave, fridge, coffee and tea maker. The miscellaneous condition vouches for standard exterior paint (colour option) with customized stripes and logo of the government of Madhya Pradesh.
The other conditions envisages minimum requisite data base coverage- Asia Pacific, new database and other onboard data should be current and valid at the time of delivery of the aeroplane. As far as desired aeroplane systems are concerned then government wants the plane should have air conditioning system (with APU on GND and with Engines in AIR), Dual auto pilot, fire protection system, ice and rain extinguishers as applicable, crew alerting system, thrust reverser system etc.
The other condition includes the aeroplane must be capable of flying 2000 NM (including mandatory reserves) with full payload without refueling, the aeroplane must be capable to take off and land on a 5000 ft runway with MTOW, should be equipped with multi scan weather radar etc. The sources in the aviation department are speculating that mid size jet aircraft may cost around Rs 400 or above. As of now, two international companies are in the race to win the bid. Currently, the government doesn’t have its own state plane as the aircraft it owned had crash-landed in Gwalior in 2021.
