Lucknow, Jun 30 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is all set to launch helicopter services between Agra and Mathura.

The state cabinet has approved leasing the city's heliports to Rajas Aerosports and Adventures Private Limited under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

According to a senior state official, the choppers will operate from the newly-built heliport in the Etmadpur sub-division of Agra to Mathura's Goverdhan, where another heliport is under construction.

Earlier, at least five chopper operating companies participated in the tender process to start services between Agra and Mathura, out of which Rajas Aerosports and Adventures Private Limited was selected to provide helicopter services between the two cities.

Principal secretary, Tourism, Mukesh Meshram said: “Rajas Aerosports and Adventure will have to get an approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), following which the company can start services between Agra and Mathura.”

In the second phase, services will begin in Lucknow, Prayagraj and Kapilvastu and subsequently in Varanasi and Ayodhya.

Over the next two to four years, services will be functional in 20-25 cities in the state, he said.

“This is the first time that the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is operating such a service. The heliports will be given on lease to Rajas Aerosports and Adventures Pvt Ltd for Rs 25,00,500 per year. Based on the financial model of the two heliports, department consultancy firm KPMG finalised the floor base price at Rs 13.50 lakhs, against which the bid price by the firm is 85. 20 per cent higher,” he informed.

Under the condition for the lease, the selected firm has to pay Rs 2,03,84,000 before the contract is executed.

The lease is for 30 years.

The developer will be given two years for development work after which the lease will be renewed for 30 years.