Coimbatore airport creates history by transporting 15 tonne machinery to Guwahati in IL-76 aircraft

Coimbatore International Airport created history by transporting machinery weighing 15,000 kilograms (15 tonnes) in an IL-76 to Guwahati on 9 December, said a media report. The IL-76 aircraft was brought in from a Middle-East country specifically to transport the machinery. [caption id=“attachment_4979081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image.[/caption] Cargo officials at Coimbatore airport said, “An industry from Coimbatore sent a request for the transport of a big mechanical gear box weighing 15,000 kilograms to Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (a government of India entity) at Guwhati. Given the weight of the machinery, it needed special handling," said a report in The New Indian Express.   In November, the Tamil Nadu government had sanctioned Rs 75 crore as compensation to be distributed to those whose lands were acquired for expansion of the airport, in the first phase. Addressing a roadshow of Global Investors Meet scheduled to be held in 2019, Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani said that Rs 1,500 crore has to be disbursed as compensation for acquisition of about 650 acres of land. In the first phase, the government has released Rs 75 crore, which will be given to the land owners in another 10 days, he said. He also said that he has taken up with the Centre, the issue of extension of the Mumbai-Bengaluru industrial corridor till Coimbatore, which would act as a force multiplier. — With PTI inputs