Calling it a glaring instance of squandering of public money to satisfy political vanity, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) on Tuesday demanded a public audit of the expenditure on the Hisar airport project and a white paper on the feasibility work.Sampat Singh said if a project is to survive, it must be planned like a business and not celebrated like a political trophy. (HT File)Launching a sharp attack on the BJP government in Haryana, former Haryana finance minister, Sampat Singh said that despite consuming ₹1,457 crore of public funds, the Hisar airport remains grossly underutilised, poorly positioned and far from becoming a viable regional aviation asset.Reacting to July 7 Hindustan Times news report – Infra investment soars, passenger traffic doesn’t at Hisar airport – the INLD leader said the airport handled only 9,559 passengers in a year, recorded 474 aircraft movements, moved zero cargo, and consumed 63 % of the civil aviation department’s capital budget.“These are not signs of a rising aviation hub. These are the numbers of a poorly conceived project that was pushed ahead without seriousness, without market discipline, and without a credible business case. An airport with fewer passengers than a busy city bus terminal cannot be sold as a success story,” the former minister said.Seeking an immediate halt to any further capital spending until a credible viability and positioning plan is prepared, Singh said while there was no formulation of a convincing airline strategy by the government, it harped on slogans, ceremonies, and photo opportunities. “Haryana’s taxpayers were made to pay for a dream that was never tested against ground realities,’’ the INLD leader said.Singh said if a project is to survive, it must be planned like a business and not celebrated like a political trophy. “You do not pour money into an airport and then hope passengers will magically appear. You first identify the market, secure airline interest, build connectivity, and create cargo and tourism linkages. Only then does an airport become viable,” he said.The INLD leader pointed out that Hisar faces severe competitive pressure. Delhi airport is already a major international hub and Jewar airport is coming up as a big competitor in the NCR. In such a situation, a standalone airport in Hisar cannot succeed on symbolism. It requires a hard-headed commercial strategy, a defined catchment area, feeder connectivity, route-specific airline commitments, and phased development based on actual demand.The INLD alleged there were serious public concerns that politically connected persons may have derived undue private benefit from the project through land transactions in and around Hisar and that land was acquired through proxy or benami arrangements, and later sold at significantly higher rates after project-related announcements inflated market expectations.He alleged that meetings were held at the airport and at various locations in Hisar with officials and other stakeholders in connection with these transactions, thereby enabling speculative gains while the public was misled. “If these allegations are found to be true, they would reflect a grave abuse of public office and public trust, and a high-level independent inquiry should be instituted to examine the role of all such persons and the land dealings associated with the project,’’ the INLD patron said.The former minister said people of Haryana deserved infrastructure that works, not monuments of political ego. “People deserve schools, hospitals, roads and livelihoods before vanity projects,’’ he said.