A new Cargo Complex in Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport in Agartala was inaugurated by Transport Minister of Tripura Sushanta Chowdhury on Friday (April 28). With this, cargo services in the MBB Airport restarted.
The new Cargo Complex was built in around 1 thousand 272 square meters at an expenditure of Rs Rs 17 crore. Initially, Indigo Airlines has been included in providing cargo services. It is expected that 40 thousand 150 MT goods in a year can be transported which is around 10 times higher than previous years when Cargo services were available.
In his inaugural speech, Sushnata Chowdhury said, Agartala MBB Airport has been developed in line with the plans of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to greatly improve the communication system in Tripura and develop a state-of-the-art air traffic management in the future. As part of the Prime Minister’s plan, auto pre-paid service (which was re-started recently) and Cargo services were introduced.
“Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh from three sides. For this reason, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the need for the development of Rail and Air connectivity in the State”, Chowdhury said and added, air services between Agartala and Chittagong will start in the first week of June next if things go as per plan. Later initiatives will be taken to directly connect Singapore, Bangkok and other cities by air.
He also mentioned a bronze statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram will be installed in the new terminal as it is impossible to shift the existing statue of the Maharaja installed at the Old terminal building. The expenditure of the new statue installation would be around Rs 35 lakh, the Minister said.
Referring to the new Cargo facilities, Sushanta Chowdhury said the integrated model cargo transport services will benefit the local traders as local products can be transported to national and international markets through the cargo transportation services of this airport. This cargo service will play an important role in the economic development of our state through the seamless transportation of goods.
Today’s event was attended by Uttam Kumar Chakma, Secretary of Tripura Government Transport Department, Deputy Commissioner of West Tripura District Debapriya Bardhan, Transport Commissioner Subrata Chowdhury, MBB Airport Director Kailash Chandra Meena, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) involved in security arrangements at MBB Airport in Agartala. Other officials involved in various cargo goods transportation services including its senior officers were also present.