Considering the agricultural significance of the Nashik district not only in Maharashtra but in the country, state government has tied up with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to develop its Nashik division, where Sukhoi Su-30 aircrafts are manufactured, as agriculture cargo hub. Initially, the airport will be made open for civil operations.
“Nashik is the biggest producer of horticulture and floriculture products in the state. The district is also developing rapidly as one of the best agricultural sector on the national map. But the district lacks facilities for exporting the produce,” Sudhir Thakre, secretary General Administration (Aviation) Department told Sakaal Times.
Nashik is developing fast as a growth center for industry and agriculture. Cultivated agricultural area is nearly 56% of the total area, the major produce being grapes, onions, flowers and sugarcane. Apart from this, bajra, rice and jowar are the main kharif crops of Nasik district. Cotton and groundnuts are also grown here. Nasik is also now the Wine Capital of India; with the industry growing at a steep rate of 70% a year for the past five years.
“Transportation of some of the perishable and much sought for products becomes very difficult as it has to be transported to Mumbai first via road and then from there it is exported by air route. Since this is a long procedure we were considering of a proposal to set up facilities to use the airport as a cargo hub,” said. The estimated expenditure to set up the facilities is estimated to be Rs 180 crore which would be shared by HAL and the state government after negotiations.
“Sukhoi 30MKI, which are manufactured at the Nashik division of HAL is now-a-days used as the aircraft testing ground. The heliport is generally used for only 3-4 months in a year for testing purpose. So we asked HAL to make the airport available as agro cargo hub,” he said.
Thakre further added that this initiative will also help generating employment as supplementary businesses would flourish here.
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100201/5560499295750327937.htm
Tags: Agriculture Nashik, Agriculture
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