Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government plans to develop five state-owned airstrips and airfields that will be made available to national and international operators for aero sports activities. Last week, the Directorate of Civil Aviation issued a tender inviting authorized entities to conduct various aero sports activities at Mandvi, Rajpipla, Saputara, Dwarka, and Dhordo for a three-year period.

Proposed activities include skydiving, microlight flying, hot air ballooning, hang gliding with foot-launched ultralight aircraft, paragliding, paramotoring, towed hang gliding, aerobatic displays, radio-controlled aircraft flying, and small drone flying.

“The department aims to foster a vibrant aero sports culture in Gujarat, attracting both local and international participants while ensuring safety and compliance with regulations. As part of these initiatives, Gujarat’s Civil Aviation Department is opening state-owned airstrips and airfields to support a variety of aero sports events and is inviting tenders from authorized entities to conduct these activities at Mandvi, Rajpipla, Saputara, Dwarka, and Dhordo,” the tender noted.

Operators with two or more years of experience in aero sports are encouraged to visit the sites to assess conditions before submitting their bids, with a deadline of October 30. Notably, Dwarka, Dhordo, and Rajpipla were among 11 locations identified by the Gujarat government in December 2023 for new greenfield airport development, for which an MoU was signed with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). DeshGujarat