With the BJP coming to power in Bengal for the first time, the Union civil aviation ministry is all set to develop the Calcutta airport and draw up a plan to set up a Delhi-like Aerocity.

The upgraded airport is expected to play a significant role in boosting Bengal’s economy as well as national security.

BJP MLA from Uttar Dum Dum, Sourav Sikdar, met Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on May 21 and appealed to him for the overall development of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, including the setting up of an Aerocity in Calcutta.

An Aerocity — a premium, master-planned business and leisure district — has come up next to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

“In the last 15 years of the TMC regime, neither the local MP nor the former state government had sent any proposal for the overall development of the airport in the city. I formally met the civil aviation minister and submitted the proposal. The Union minister said that the government will soon start work on developing the airport, which is the most significant one in eastern India,” said Sikdar, who defeated TMC heavyweight Chandrima Bhattacharya, and is the nephew of Tapan Sikdar, one of the Union ministers in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

A large part of the airport falls under his constituency.

A source said that though Calcutta airport has two runways, only one is operational because the other cannot be made functional due to a religious structure. After the BJP government came to power, the process to shift the religious structure began. However, a source said meetings have taken place with the community concerned regarding the structure’s relocation.

Sikdar said he also discussed the demand for setting up a Delhi-like Aerocity in Calcutta, which the Union minister accepted.

“The Union minister assured me that the process will begin soon. The government will need some time because land is required to set up such an Aerocity. Our chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari, is also focused on the development of our airport,” added the BJP MLA, the nephew of former Union minister late Tapan Sikdar.

A source in the BJP said that during Sikdar’s election campaign, he stressed the development of the airport and the setting up of an Aerocity.

“Within 15 days of winning the election, he moved to Delhi and met the Union civil aviation minister,” said a BJP leader.

A source in the BJP said that the state and central governments are keen on the overall development of the Calcutta airport as it is crucial for connectivity with other states in eastern India and can play a key role in monitoring activities along the international borders of the region.

“During the TMC regime, many efforts to revamp the Calcutta airport went in vain because of the then state government did not cooperate. Now that the double-engine government is in place, much of the pending work will be completed soon,” said a BJP leader.