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Gujarat elections 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning ahead of the second phase of voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections. He will travel to Dharoi Dam from Sabarmati river in a seaplane, the first which will take off from the river.

Quest Kodiac plane, a small aircraft, can transport between nine and 15 people. It requires a runway length of just 300 metres for take-off and landing, and is equipped with floats that allow it to land on waterways.

A day ahead of the journey, the Prime Minister had tweeted, “Tomorrow at 9:30 am I will travel from Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam via sea plane. After that will offer prayers to Maa Amba at Ambaji. With air, roads & rail connectivity, our Government is making efforts for harnessing waterways. All this is for 125 crore Indians!”

The demonstration of the aircraft was recently held by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, along with other officials. SpiceJet, which has proposed introducing seaplane services in the country and is likely to make at least 10 planes operational in the next 12 months, is conducting trials of its 10-seater Kodiac. It plans to buy at least 100 aircrafts from Japanese firm Setouchi Holdings, each of which costs Rs 4 crore.