New Delhi: Four 50-seater (Avions de Transport Regional) ATR aircraft would soon be inducted in the fleet of Indian Airlines' wholly owned subsidiary, Alliance Air, on dry lease to start feeder operations in the North East in the winter schedule.

Stating this, Minister of Department for North East Development Arun Shourie told reporters that provisions have been made from the non-lapsable central pool to provide Rs 35 crore subsidy each year to improve air connectivity.

"The aircraft will be functional before the winter schedule of IA becomes operational," he said, adding that facilities like night landing and navigation in 12 existing airports in the region were being augmented.

Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain would this week inaugurate the operationalising of Lilabari airport in North Lakhimpur district of Assam to provide long-needed air connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh.

Shourie said it took Indian Airlines nine months of negotiations to "beat down the lease charges" to get these ATR aircraft to launch feeder services in the North East.

The Minister, who also launched a dedicated website for the region called 'www.northeast@nic.in', said government would move a bill in the ensuing winter session of Parliament to amend the North Eastern Council (NEC) Act to include Sikkim as a member, among other things.

He said a series of initiatives had been taken by the Centre for coordinating major developmental projects and funding them through the non-lapsable central pool or through the NEC.

PTI