India - Maharashtra CM's 52 cr Plane arrives

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s jet, Cessna Citation XLS, has finally arrived. TOI got a glimpse of the plane while it was parked in the hangar at Santacruz Airport on Tuesday. The Rs 52-crore plane arrived in Mumbai from the US on Monday after landing for refuelling in five countries. The US-made plane has its engines above its wings and can take off or land from most airfields in the state. ‘‘Airfields in the state are not in such good condition and aircraft having engines below the wings have problems as foreign object can get inside the engine. In this case, however, there will be no problem,’’ a senior government officer said. The government already owns a B 300 and a Dauphin helicopter and state-owned aircraft are exclusively meant for the governor, the chief minister and the deputy chief minister. The government decided to go in for a second plane because of the frequent clashes between the chief minister and deputy chief minister R R Patil over the use of the state government aircraft, officials said. Former chief secretary D K Sankaran had cleared the purchase of a second plane, said a senior IAS officer. There is, however, a paucity of pilots and the government has loaned two, Riyaz Buhariwala and Nitin Purandare, from the Indian Air Force. State Aviation Director Sanjay Karve said the aircraft can travel up to 3,700 km on a tank full of fuel. Nine passengers can sit in the aircraft. ‘‘If the CM wishes, he can even have meetings inside the aircraft since it has a meeting table,’’ said a government official.