CHANDIGARH, April 21: The Punjab Government has a floated a global tender to purchase an executive-class helicopter for use by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.The helicopter will have six seats besides those for the pilot and the co-pilot and is expected to cost the state exchequer Rs 18 crore, Principal Secretary of the Civil Aviation Department Y S Ratra said.The tender notice has appeared in three reputed international dailies - The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and The Times of London, besides some national dailies. Tenders close on May 15 next.The state government, while preparing the case for the purchase, has stated that it will not be the first to have a helicopter for the Chief Minister since most other states already have one.At present, Punjab has a Pawan Hans helicopter on lease from a private company for use by the Chief Minister but it is proving costly at a daily rent of Rs 60,000 with an additional Rs 40,000 for each flying hour. This helicopter was taken on hirefor use by then Director General of Police K P S Gill and was made available to the Chief Minister after his retirement.The purchase of a new helicopter will mean that the state government can at least possess the asset instead of paying huge rental charges for something belonging to a private company, officials argue in defence of the decision which comes at a time when the state is passing through dire financial straits.Though the Punjab government already owns a fixed-wing twin-engine King C-90 aircraft for use by the VIPs like the Governor, it has limited use since unlike a helicopter, it cannot land and take off everywhere. At least, it is not being used by the Punjab Chief Minister who has to travel widely throughout the state.Meanwhile, the laying of the foundation stone of the international airport at Amritsar is likely to be further delayed due to the absence of Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ananth Kumar. The stone was to be laid by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during his proposedvisit to the holy city on April 27. However, this appears unlikely since the Centre has conveyed to the state government that the minister concerned would be abroad during that time.In fact, the stone was initially to be laid by former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral during his visit to Amritsar on December 17. But the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections barred him from performing the ceremony.
