Rourkela: The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and the Airports Authority of India on Tuesday signed an MoU paving the way for the steel city to get permanent air connectivity.

An official release of the Rourkela Steel Plant said the agreement would cover the three steel cities of SAIL - Rourkela, Bokaro in Jharkhand and Burnpur in Bengal. The three places have been put under the regional connectivity scheme Udan, a flagship project of the Centre.

Director of AAI, Bhubaneswar, Suresh Hota was hopeful that the air service to Rourkela would start shortly. "Over ninety five per cent work at the Rourkela airport is over. My team from Jharsuguda had verified it and have confirmed that everything has been done, only the MoU was awaited."

He said the crucial precision approach path indicator (Papi), the instrument that guides the incoming flight, would be installed.

"We will procure Papi and install it soon. In the meantime, SAIL will have to get the licence from the director general of civil aviation, and we are helping them in this regard," said Hota.

The airport will cater to 19-seater planes under the scheme. The runway length is 1,820 and 30 meters in width. The final modalities are being worked out, said Hota.

"The AAI is mandated to provide the communication and air traffic control facilities. According to the MoU, the AAI is an implementation agency under RCS-Udan. It would execute the required work before commencement of RCS flights from these three airports. Eventually, the AAI will operate and manage airport operations on behalf of SAIL in Rourkela for three years," he said.

Hota said in the first phase the plan was to operate one flight to Bhubaneswar and another to Calcutta.

President of Rourkela Chambers of Commerce and Industries K. Poddar said: "We were waiting for it as it will help us and the business community in particular."

Similarly, at NIT Rourkela there is also a sense of happiness. An official release of the institute said: "It is a matter of delight and a heartening moment for NIT Rourkela." Earlier, many acclaimed academics had declined to visit the institute for the lack of air connectivity. Now, an NIT official said the standard of placement would also go up a few notches.

S.K. Biswal, a faculty in a local management college, also shared the sentiment of the NIT official.