October 4, 2008
In India’s western peninsular region, an upgraded version of a domestic airport serving the city of Nanded in the state of Maharashtra was formally inaugurated. This airport is named after Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), who was born in present-day Patna City in the state of Bihar in eastern India. He succeeded his father as the 10th Sikh guru (spiritual master) and was also a renowned philosopher, poet, and warrior.
Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Airport had originally been built in 1958 as the first aviation facility of its kind in that part of India, but it was mostly underdeveloped over the next several decades. It was not until 2000 that the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation took over the responsibilities for maintaining the airport and initiating efforts to reconstruct and modernize it.
Those taking part in the dedication of the new and improved version of the airport included Praful Patel (born in 1957), who was India’s minister of civil aviation from 2004 to 2011; and Vilasrao Deshmukh (1945-2012), who served as chief minister of Maharashtra between 1999 and 2003 and again from 2004 to 2008.
(The accompanying photo of the air traffic control tower at this airport was taken in 2011.)
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Airport, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri_Guru_Gobind_Singh_Ji_Airport
Transportation History 
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