Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will soon get its new helicopter for the Governor and Chief minister and the services will begin in 15 days.
The Airbus H 145 helicopter is scheduled to reach here on September 17 from Germany. Various parts of Airbus H 145 will be assembled in Mumbai by the INDAMER Aviation Company. This assembling will take at least a month.
The helicopter will mainly be used by the Governor and the Chief Minister for official tours. However, once the model code of conduct comes into effect post Ganesh Visarjan, the CM and any of the other ministers will not be able to use this plane.
The chopper has the capacity to seat 12 people, including the crew members. However, during the time it is assembled, the capacity will be kept for 6-8 people to provide more leg-space to the VVIPs.
After the helicopter VT-CMM SIKORSKY S-76C crashed on May 25, 2017, none of the helicopters of the state government are operational. One is under maintenance, hence the state government decided to buy its new helicopter for VVIPs.
After the tendering process, it was decided to buy the Airbus H 145 helicopter for Rs73 crore. It is considered as one of the best crash-proof helicopters.
The tendering to sell the old crashed helicopter VT-CMM SIKORSKY S-76C is under process. It was purchased in 2011 by the state government and insured for Rs56 crore. The insurance company has paid Rs40 crore till now to the state government. The rest of the amount will be paid after the sale of the helicopter. “The condition of the engine of this crashed helicopter is very good. The experts from insurance company will decide the sale price and then we will issue a tender,” said a senior official of the Directorate of Aviation in Maharashtra government.
State plane to be available in 15 days
The state government owns a Cessna plane, which has a capacity of 10 people, including the crew. This plane is not in operations for the last 18 months as it has been under maintenance. Its repair is almost over. It is expected that the state can use services of this plane after 15 days.
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