Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday inaugurated a heliport constructed at a price of 3.4 crore at Rampur in Shimla district.

He mentioned that the federal government has taken a number of initiatives to draw vacationers to the unexplored areas and was working to develop a community of heliports to enhance air connectivity within the state.

The work at Shimla heliport close to Sanjauli bypass highway, Baddi in Solan district and Rampur have already been accomplished below UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, he mentioned. The helicopter service operations will get began at these three websites quickly, he added. Meanwhile, the heliport at Kangnidhar in Mandi was close to completion and one other is being developed at Manali (DGRE, SASE), Jai Ram mentioned.

The CM mentioned the heli-taxi providers on Shimla- Rampur-Shimla route have been began in December 2021 and flights have been working thrice every week.

The one-way fare per passenger is 3,275, he added.

Jai Ram mentioned that his authorities had just lately despatched a proposal to increase the helicopter providers to Reckong Peo and Chamba.

There are 64 helipads within the state and 38 new ones are being developed, he mentioned, including that flights on Delhi-Shimla-Delhi route have been being restored.

Addressing a public assembly at Rampur, a stronghold of the Congress for many years, Jai Ram mentioned the social gathering was a sinking ship. “Ghulam Nabi Azad left the Congress after 52 years alleging that the social gathering was in arms of immature and conceited management. Similarly, Anand Sharma additionally resigned after being ignored. Two Congress MLAs of the state have additionally joined the BJP just lately,” he added.

The CM, meanwhile, also inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects worth 24.66 crore in the Rampur assembly segment. He announced 20 lakh for the development of a press membership too.