Himachal Pradesh has urged the Centre to sanction Rs 500 crore each for the expansion and upgradation of Kullu and Kangra airports besides Rs 426 crore for the Shimla airport.

While participating as representative of Chief Minister of HP in the meetings of State Finance Ministers as well as GST Council held at New Delhi on Friday evening, Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said an investment of Rs 2,500 crore was required for the construction of a new greenfield airport fit for landing wide-bodied aircraft in Mandi district.

“This would lead to better connectivity within the state as well as for tourist destinations,” he added.

Bhardwaj requested to bring GST on components and materials used in the construction of hydropower projects to be brought at par with Wind and Solar power projects as they have also been classified as renewable energy.

He urged the Centre for the construction of the proposed Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line besides converting Pathankot-Joginder rail line to broad gauge and linking both with cent per cent Central sharing. He requested to declare these as defence projects of national importance.

The Himachal minister demanded sufficient funds for rail network in Union budget for the state and demanded that expansion of rail network in Himalayan states may be considered in core schemes and may form part of national development agenda and sharing pattern of construction of rail lines may be kept in the ratio of 90:10 for Centre and state.

He demanded a hike in import duty of apples at least two times to protect the interests of local growers as Himachal apple is facing threat due to the imported apples in the national market.

He said that ropeways were an effective alternative for addressing connectivity as well as traffic congestion issues in the state and requested for approving ropeways for connecting 283 left out villages under PMSGY-1 (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) with 250 plus population which could not be connected by roads due to thick forest cover and environmental issues. He said that liberal funding may be provided to the state by bringing it under Parvatmala Scheme being conceived by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways so that easy connectivity could be provided to remote areas and tourist destinations in an eco-friendly manner.

While discussing Aspirational districts (Chamba) which NITI AAYOG is monitoring, he said that GoI should consider funding the projects for roads, irrigation and health sectors for backward districts so that basic developmental needs of these districts are met immediately and they are able to come out of the backward category.

Principal Secretary, Excise and Taxation, Jagdish Sharma accompanied the Minister during the meeting.