Hemant Soren inaugurates Jharkhand Flying Institute in Dumka

Dumka, Nov 24 (PTI) Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday inaugurated the Jharkhand Flying Institute (JFI), aiming to provide commercial training to pilots, at Sido-Kanhu airport in Dumka district.

The CM also inaugurated 12 other projects worth Rs 190.64 crore, and laid the foundation for 14 projects to the tune of Rs 123.48 during the occasion.

He said the foundation of the flying institute was laid by the then chief minister Shibu Soren in 2008.

“Instead of taking this project forward, our opposition (when it was in power) had buried it in a sealed box,” the CM alleged.

In the first phase, 30 candidates will be selected on basis of merit through competitive examination. A total of 15 seats will be for the reserved category students.

“The government will bear all the financial burden of these 15 pilots in the training institute. They will get free training, fooding and lodging,” Soren said.

The Deoghar airport, the construction of which started in 2017-18, not only became ready in a short span of time, but also started airline services, he said.

But, this training institute could not be started, "as our opposition did not want children of tribals to progress,” Soren said, referring to the previous BJP government.

SP Sinha, Director-cum-MD of the institute, said it got approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on August 7, 2025. PTI SAN RBT