Chavan's aircraft, a 11-year-old King B 300 up for an overhaul after the recent YSR tragedy
Chavan's aircraft, a 11-year-old King B 300 up for an overhaul after the recent YSR tragedyThe state has decided to refurbish and repair the 11-year-old King B 300 aircraft that is used by the Chief Minister and Deputy Minister instead of procuring a brand new one after selling this aircraft.
State Aviation director Sanjay Karve said, "The aircraft is absolutely fine and with refurbishments, the aircraft can run without any problems for another six to seven years. There are no safety issues also as it is the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), which issues a certificate." On procurement of satellite phones and other safety equipments, Karve said, "When DGCA issues any instruction, we will follow it."
Aviation expert Vipul Saxena said, "There is no problem in refurbishing an aircraft. Besides, 11 years does not mean that it is an old aircraft. It can be used well for another nine years, as the life of the aircraft is no less than 20 years." The 11-year- old aircraft was brought for Rs 40 crore in 1998.
Surprisingly, a proposal to sell this aircraft came up before the Cabinet about three months back. However, the Cabinet decided to not sell the aircraft and instead refurbish and repair the aircraft.
"The state is debt ridden and it had procured a new Cessna Citation XLS aircraft at a cost of Rs 54 crore in August 2008. The decision to buy the aircraft had attracted criticism at that time. Therefore, the state may have decided to become financially prudent and not sell the B 300 aircraft, which would have fetched them little money and they would have had to shell out not less than Rs 50 crore for a new aircraft," said a State official.
"In any case, the State government needs two aircrafts as the governor, Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister exclusively use the two aircrafts and a helicopter.u00a0 The second aircraft was purchased last year as both the CM and the Deputy CM demand the aircrafts for their use," the official added.
Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, "The cabinet has asked the concerned officials to examine whether it can be refurbished and repaired. A new aircraft would cost no less than Rs 50 to 60 crore."
