Ludhiana, July 19 -- In the works since 2018, the civil terminal at Halwara air base in Ludhiana is finally ready for take-off after years of delay and missed deadlines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the terminal virtually on July 27, confirmed Ludhiana deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain, as shared by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). But no final date has been announced for the commencement of flight operations and no airline has been confirmed yet. An official said Air India might begin a flight to Delhi, but necessary permissions were still pending. Developed at the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Halwara in Raikot subdivision, the civil terminal was a long-pending demand of Ludhiana residents, especially the business community, to enhance the region's air connectivity. Currently, Ludhiana is connected by air only with Ghaziabad (Hindon airport), with FlyBig operating one flight from the Sahnewal airport, six days a week. Thus, industrialists from the region, a major trading hub, are forced to travel to Delhi, Jalandhar, Amritsar or Chandigarh to fly to other destinations. But even though the Halwara terminal is finally closer to reality, flyers' wait for international flights will continue. For now, the terminal will handle only one domestic flight, with a capacity for 150 passengers for both arrivals and departures. At a press conference on development projects, Punjab's industries minister Sanjeev Arora also confirmed the July 27 inauguration. Arora, who recently won the Ludhiana West bypoll said that flight schedules would be announced later by the airlines. The terminal building has come up at Aitiana village, 35 km from district headquarters. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier proposed renaming the airport after Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha, a young freedom fighter from the district, but the Centre has yet to approve this. Although the Punjab government had approved the airport project in 2018, the civil work was delayed multiple times due to lack of funds. The construction began only after GLADA took possession of the land in 2020. The public works department (PWD) was given the contract in December 2021, with a target to finish by June 2022, but funds were delayed until November 2022. Work resumed in December 2022 after chief minister Mann stepped in. The entire project cost is estimated at Rs.54 crore, which includes Rs.27 crore for the terminal building and Rs.27 crore for the tarmac. The Punjab government has covered the cost and AAI is expected to reimburse it later....