'Will be happy moment': Utpal Parrikar over buzz on naming Mopa airport after father Manohar Parrikarkar
Dec 11, 2022
Panaji (Goa) [India], December 11 : Amid reports that Goa's new international airport in Mopa will be named after four-time chief minister and former Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, his son Utpal Parrikar on Sunday said that if the Centre does so, it would be a 'happy moment for us'.
"It will be a happy moment for us if Goa's new airport is named Manohar Parrikar International Airport," Utpal Parrikar told ANI on Sunday.
However, he added, "I have no idea if the government will actually do so."
The naming of the new arport is already courting headlines with the names of the former Defence minister and the state's first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar being thrown around as the ones the facility will be named after.
Speaking ahead of the inauguration of Goa's new airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening, Utpal said his father's 'dream' that was coming true.
"It was my father's dream," said an emotional Utpal.
"He (Manohar Parrikar) is not with us today. But I feel happy to see this kind of development taking place in Goa. Mopa airport was my father's dream. I commend the vision of the honourable Prime Minister and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The new airport will boost the economy of Goa. It will the help the northern part of the state harness its potential to attract more tourists from overseas," Utpal told ANI.
Speaking on the closing of the old Goa airport, he said, "The airlines will decide whether to operate flights at the old airport. The choice of passengers will also play a key role. I would like both the airports to be in the service of passengers."
"This new airport will boost the state's economy," he added.
Built at a cost of about Rs 2,870 crore, the Mopa airport has come up on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and has the capacity to cater to 4.4 million people every year.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the airport in November 2016.
