Karnali, September 2: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the state government of Karnali and the federal government to develop, expand and upgrade the airport in Surkhet, the capital of Karnali State.
Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning of Karnali Ghanashyam Upadhyay and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Director General Rajan Pokharel signed the MoU regarding this in a program held here yesterday . Chief Minister of Karnali State Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, Karnali State’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning Prakash Jwala were present on the occasion.
The federal and state governments will jointly bear the cost for renovating the the airport. The MoU states that the acquisition of land to construct the terminal building, runway expansion and other development works for the airport would also be undertaken by them in a collaborative way.
The airport in Surkhet will have a runway stretching 1,500 metres. The Karnali State has already allocated a total of Rs 500 million in the current fiscal year for the construction of the airport which is expected to ensure easy air connectivity to 10 districts within the Karnali State. —
