Indian Airforce has got another base boosting its military capabilities against Pakistan with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved  a long-pending plan to set up a base for India Air Force near Pakistan Border in Gujarat. The base will be built near Deesa in Banaskantha district, which is close to India’s western border in northwest Gujarat. The aim is to increase the capability of IAF against neighbor Pakistan.

The officials at Defense Ministry on condition of anonymity that the CCS has approved the initial expenditure of around Rs 1,000 crore to extend the runway, then build fighter-pens and other administrative facilities. “The proposal for converting the small Deesa airport with a 1,000-metre runway, which was used for helicopter landings and VVIP movements, has been gathering dust for quite some time. The fact is that 4,000 acres for the air base, which will plug the critical air defense gap between the Barmer and Bhuj air bases, was acquired nearly two decades ago. This decision was pushed by defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman,” said one of the officials.

Despite the fact that the base will help IAF to increase its efficiency with the ability to deliver response swiftly against any aggression targeting western India, the Defense Ministry is presently mum about which type fighters are going to be in place there.

Two former IAF chiefs commented over the issue on condition of anonymity. They said that the development is very significant. “The Deesa base will fill an important gap between Barmer in the north and Bhuj/Naliya in the west,” said one of the two chiefs. “We have constructed a boundary wall there and have some personnel stationed there. It’s time to get started now,” he added.

The Air Base will be under the control of Gandhinagar-headquartered South Western Air Command ( SWAC) of Indian Air Force. It was under the supervision of IAF Chief Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa in the year 2014-15. The headquarter of SWAC has the responsibility of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and the Deesa base will become the ninth such under it.

The total cost can be around or more than 4,000 crore for the full-fledged fighter base at the end and the government will have to earmark funds time to time, so that the project is completed in time, the former chief said.

Money will play a critical role for the proposed Indian Military base as the they are already facing fund crunch, as per the reports tabled in Parliament this month. As an example, the IAF whose requirement was expected to be Rs 1,14,526 crore for the year 2018-19 received an allocation of only Rs 65,891 crore.

Experts believe that the new base will greatly help IAF to gain strength.

“Fighter jets have a finite range so extra bases are always welcome as more force is available when required,” said Air Marshal Vinod Patney (retd), head of the Centre for Air Power Studies and a former IAF vice chief. “The IAF has been asking for Deesa for years. It’s good news that the base is on its way to becoming a reality,” Patney added.