Kolkata, Jan 8 (IANS): Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd. (BAPL) and the SCOMI Group of Malaysia Thursday inked an agreement for setting up a Mass Rapid Transport Manufacturing Hub (MRTMH) service in West Bengal that will produce public transport buses and coaches for metro and monorail services.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on the second and concluding day of the Bengal Global Business Summit was part of efforts aimed at accelerating the progress of BAPL's "Sujalaam Skycity" - an airport city at Andal in Burdwan district - and bring about equitable and sustainable socio-economic development in Durgapur region, a BAPL statement said.

The MRTMH project will be located within the industrial zone of the airport city and set up in a land parcel of 25 acres allocated by BAPL to SCOMI, renowned for providing solutions in the transportation industry.

Having completed a preliminary analysis of the market to its satisfaction, SCOMI will now embark on a detailed demand assessment, in order to determine the production capacity phasing plan of the proposed facility.

Meanwhile, air carrier Pinnacle Air announced the proposed launch of their non-scheduled airline operation through small fixed-wing aircraft connecting regional airports of Durgapur (Andal), Bagdogra and Cooch Behar with Kolkata.

An agreement was signed between the air carrier, the state government and BAPL.

Go Air has also expressed interest to launch scheduled airline operations from Durgapur (Andal) airport, with the first flight linking this regional airport to New Delhi.

The Rs.10,000-crore aerotropolis is expected to create over 125,000 jobs.