KATHMANDU, Feb 6: The government invested a total of Rs 89 billion in airport infrastructure development and acquisition of land for airports across the country over the past two and half years.

Pradip Adhikari, who heads National Pride Projects at Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said on Wednesday that the government has invested Rs 33 billion for land acquisition and another Rs 49 billion for infrastructure development for international airports. Toward domestic airports, the government invested Rs 1 billion for land acquisition and Rs 6 billion for infrastructure development, according to Adhikari.

Speaking at a program organized by CAAN, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that aviation sector should be profitable as the government has invested huge amount of money into it. "These aviation projects need to give return on investments to the government and become self-reliant," he added.

Meanwhile, the government has unveiled plant invest another Rs 335.6 billion in aviation sector over the next five years. Of the total amount, Rs 5 billion will go for land acquisition and Rs 250 billion for infrastructure development of international airports. For domestic airports, it plans to invest Rs 34.6 billion for land acquisition and Rs 46 billion for infrastructure development.

“Nijgadh International Airport is a game-changer project. It should be ready over for commercial flights over the next five years,” Bhattarai said, adding: “The airport is necessary to solve many problems like addressing air traffic congestion. It is our only way out to this problem.”

Stating that the aviation sector will take a huge heap in five years, the minister said that it will support the growth of the country's tourism industry. He also said that the government will act tough against contractors, who do not complete the project on time, and make them ineligible for government contracts. 

“After all three under-construction international airports come into operation, we have the target of bringing 10 million tourists into the country,” he added. "Though all these airports are under the federal government, all three tiers of government will collaborate and coordinate for their construction.”

Altogether there are 54 airfields across the country. However, only 32 of them are in operation at present. Two new airports – Arghabhagawati Airport at Arghakhanchi and Pokhara Regional International Airport – are under construction at present.

 
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