With an eye on 2024 polls, Centre fast-tracks airport project in UP’s Fursatganj for smooth landing at Amethi and Raebareli

The Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), which is next to the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU), in Uttar Pradesh. Image Credit: IGRUA

The Centre is fast-tracking its preparations to operationalise an airport next year in Uttar Pradesh’s Fursatganj, a small town that lies at the cusp of both the Amethi and Raebareli constituencies that are politically significant ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Amethi MP and union minister Smriti Irani has been pursuing this project for nearly three years. Fursatganj falls in the Amethi district but is very close to Raebareli as well, the parliamentary constituency of Sonia Gandhi. The proposed airport will come up at the Fursatganj airstrip in the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), which is next to the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University (RGNAU).

While the existing airstrip here has been re-laid, the Centre has now also invited tenders for an Environmental Aspect Assessment (EAA) for the airport project and the construction of an apron, taxi track, and other works at the site.

The Blueprint

As per details of the blueprint with News18, the airport will be developed for RCS-Udan (Regional Connectivity Scheme) operations and aircraft of type ATR-72 and Q-400 will be able to land here. A terminal building with an area of 1,200 sqm will come up with a capacity to handle peak-hour traffic of 100 passengers, along with a car parking for 40 cars.

Blueprint of the proposed Fursatganj airport in UP. News18

The existing runway has a length of 1,850 m and an apron to be built here will be able to park two aircraft. A 180-metre-long taxi track, internal circulation roads and an airport access road are also planned in the blueprint.

The Centre has spent over Rs 20 crore on recarpeting the runway and Rs 4 crore is being used on building the apron and the taxi track. It is expected that flights from Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Delhi could start for this airport once it is ready.

Political Import

The project could be an ace up the BJP’s sleeve in Amethi-Raebareli come the 2024 elections after Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi from the Amethi seat in 2019 while Sonia Gandhi managed to retain the Raebareli seat, the only one Congress got in Uttar Pradesh in 2019. The AIIMS in Raebareli has also become operational and is being expanded.

The BJP is keen to snatch the seat from the Congress after the winning margin of Sonia Gandhi came down in the 2019 polls.

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