After a 10-month hiatus caused primarily by the non-payment of funds for the completion of the terminal building, the Halwara International Airport in Ludhiana will be ready for operation by the end of this fiscal year. A deadline to get work completed by March 31 has been given to the PWD, so that international flights can start.

According to officials, the Punjab government has decided to arrange for funds to complete the project for the time being, and will be reimbursed later by the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stated that the airport will be operational soon and that residents of the state will be able to board international flights from there. The state's initial expenditures would be reimbursed by AAI later. The state government had purchased 161 acres of land for the airport.

Halwara is an existing Indian Airforce station near Ludhiana. The government found it easier to develop the already existing airport as civilian airport also. Sahnewal, another town near Ludhiana, also has a civil airport but it cannot be expanded.

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