Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that the state government's proposal for an international airport in Ayodhya has been approved by the Centre.

"UP government's proposal for an international airport in Ayodhya has been approved by the Centre. About Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated to the district administration by the state government. The Central government has disbursed Rs 250 crore," the Chief Minister said.

Speaking about tourism and pilgrimage in Ayodhya, the chief minister said, "Ayodhya is popular for Ramjanmabhoomi. Work in Ayodhya is going on for the construction of Lord Ram temple. Lakhs of devotees and pilgrims visit Ayodhya. The city offers an amalgamation of spirituality and tourism and both the central and state governments are working for its development."

"I am happy to tell you that to develop international tourism in Ayodhya, many new initiatives are being taken. As we all know there are Indian-origin people living in various countries and they would also like to visit Ayodhya. So the UP government gave a proposal to the Centre to develop Ayodhya airport as an international airport," Yogi Adityanath said.

"For the construction of the airport, the state government has provided a sum of about Rs 1,000 crore to the district administration for the land. Till now, more than 377 hectare of land is made available. The Union government has provided for Rs 250 crore for the operation of ATR 72 type aircraft. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri for this," he added.