Mumbai: To promote air travel from Solapur to Mumbai and Solapur to Pune, the state government will spend Rs 17.97 crore as the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) during the current year.
About The Decision
The decision, recently approved by the state cabinet, the order of which was issued on Monday, says the state will bear 100 per cent cost as the VGF for the air travel. The Solapur airport has been one of the airports, along with eight others in the state, that have been included in the Regional Connectivity Plan (RCG) by the central government in 2016.
Incentives for the airport operator have been a part of the RCS for which the state government pays 20 per cent VGF to the Union government. Though the airports of Nanded, Jalgaon, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg are currently operated under the RCS, for Solapur, it is still to be implemented.
The company that will receive the VGF from the state government is Ghodawat Enterprises Pvt Ltd (Star Air), and the amount will be Rs 3240 per seat. The 100 per cent VGF will be discontinued once the Solapur airport is covered under the RCS, says the GR.
