SIALKOT, April 24 Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has announced that Haj flights from Sialkot will start during the next season.

He was talking to a delegation of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCC) which called on him at the residence of Federal Population and Social Welfare Minister Dr Fardous Ashiq Awan in Chak Koobay on Friday.

The prime minister also announced a grant of Rs250 million as a first installment to improve the airport infrastructure.

The SCCI delegation consisting of traders and industrialists had demanded Rs750 million to improve facilities at the airport which they have built on self-help basis.

Gilani said the amount would be provided in three installments of Rs250 million each.

About the demand for assistance for introducing solar energy project in Sialkot, the prime minister said he would direct the ministry of environment to provide every possible help in this connection.

The delegation informed the prime minister that they had also built roads of the city on self-help basis. They said Sialkot was earning huge foreign exchange for the country. —APP