West Bengal will get four new airports in the next two years, Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu has said. The airports will come up at Charra in Purulia, Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur, Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur and Hasimara in Alipurduar.

Naidu spoke at a Howrah event on October 5 where the Civil Aviation Ministry signed an agreement with the state government. The pact implements the UDAN regional connectivity scheme in West Bengal. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari attended the event.

The Centre will spend Rs 29,000 crore under UDAN in West Bengal over ten years. The four new airports will take the state’s airport count from four to eight. Naidu also backed a second airport for Kolkata to meet rising demand.

Hasimara and Kalaikunda have 2,700-metre airstrips that can support narrow-body aircraft. Naidu urged the state to frame a new civil aviation policy to attract investors. He said other states have doubled their airports in 12 years while Bengal lagged behind.