Narendra Modi's government is in the process of establishing a new regional carrier to improve connectivity across India's northeast.
According to state officials who spoke to The Economic Times on condition of anonymity, the unnamed carrier will be a 51/49 joint-venture between local state-owned enterprise (SOE) Pawan Hans Helicopters (Delhi International) and the North Eastern Council (NEC) whose membership includes the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim.
The carrier will be based out of Guwahati, Assam, and will offer regular passenger flights to all NEC state capitals using a fleet of six fixed-wing aircraft and five helicopters initially. Startup capital will constitute INR1.5 billion (USD223.4 million).
The project is currently undergoing government scrutiny.
Following the dissolution of regional specialist Vayudoot (Delhi Safdarjung) in 1997, Air India (AI, Delhi International) subsidiary Alliance Air (India) (9I, Delhi International) has stepped in to try and pick up some of the slack. However, the extent of its services is contingent on government subsidies.
