Rajasthan Govt to Spend Rs 23.79 Crore Annually on Leasing Helicopter for VIP Flights

GG News Bureau
Jaipur, 27th July. Rajasthan government has announced that it will allocate an estimated Rs 23.79 crore annually for leasing a helicopter from a private company, as revealed in the state assembly.

The information was provided in response to an unstarred question by Congress MLA Shikha Meel Barala. According to the state’s written reply, Rajasthan currently does not own any aircraft.

From 2020-21 to 2023-24, the government spent a total of Rs 76.46 crore on helicopter and airplane services. Specifically, expenditures were Rs 8.03 crore in 2020-21, Rs 7.19 crore in 2021-22, Rs 31.30 crore in 2022-23, and Rs 29.94 crore in 2023-24.

The new lease agreement, signed on June 5, 2024, with M/s Redbird Airways Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, will see the government incurring an annual cost of Rs 23.79 crore.

MLA Barala slammed the decision, saying that purchasing a helicopter outright would have been a more financially prudent choice in the long term.