Centre to speed up infrastructure development of Punjab's Sultanpur Lodhi, says Hardeep Singh Puri

New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday that the Centre will initiate work on the infrastructure development of Sultanpur Lodhi as proposed by the Punjab government at the earliest. [caption id=“attachment_4960711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh. Twitter/ @capt_amarinder[/caption] The chief minister had called on Puri, to press for early approval for the Rs 321 crore infrastructure development projects proposed by the state government for Sultanpur Lodhi town. The town holds historical significance due to its association with Guru Nanak, whose 550th Prakash Parv is being celebrated this year. Puri said that he had already instructed the department to immediately vet the proposals and secure the necessary approvals to start work on priority. The Union Minister also said, “We are committed to helping Punjab in any way we could and would look into the demands of the state. We would ensure maximum flights from Punjab to cater to the demand for global travel.” To strengthen the state’s global connectivity, Captain Amarinder Singh sought inclusion of Chandigarh under the Open Skies Policy for ASEAN Countries, while asking for urgent review of the current policy of bilateral spots to facilitate more international flights out of Chandigarh, especially to Gulf countries and Turkey, thereby enabling greater connectivity with the rest of the world. He urged the minister to liberalise bilateral rights to enable the civil aviation sector to grow. The chief minister was accompanied by MPs Preneet Kaur, and Gurjit Singh Aujla, as well as his Media Advisor Raveen Thukral, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar, Principal Secretary Tejveer Singh and Resident Commissioner Rakhee Bhandari.