Narendra Modi  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the first airport in Sikkim. With this, the number of functional airports in the country went up to 100.

“This is a historic day for the State of Sikkim and also an important day for the rest of India. With this inauguration, the country has hit a century (in the number of airports),” Mr. Modi said while addressing a gathering at Pakyong in Sikkim. The Prime Minister described the airport as an “engineering marvel”, and said that within a week or two, regular flights to Kolkata and Guwahati would be started.

The airport at Pakyong, about 30 km from Gangtok and surrounded by mountains, is a major boost to connectivity in the mountainous State.

Mr. Modi said the airport would be linked to the Union government’s UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) regional connectivity scheme and the airfare for about an hour would come to Rs. 2,500.

The airport has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 605 crore.

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