Jharkhand Flying Institute(JFI) was inaugurated by Chief Minister Hemant Soren at the Sido-Kanhu airport in Dumka district on Monday.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren flagged off the initiative aiming to provide a commercial pilot.

JFI has over a decade old history. On November 10, 2008, the then CM Shibu Soren had inaugurated Sona-Sobran National Flying Academy or Sona Sobran Rashtriya Udan Academy as an aviation training initiative in Dumka.

Sona - Sobran were the mother and father of Shibu Soren. It was established on the premises of the Sido-Kanhu airstrip in Dumka.

The goal was to provide income-generating opportunities for local students, including free education for some tribal individuals, and to create over 500 jobs annually.

It was intended to be developed along the lines of the highly regarded Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy (IGRUA) in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, which functions under India's Ministry of Civil Aviation.

JFI is registered under the Society Act (1860) in the year 2023, Under Dept. of Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance (Civil Aviation Division), Govt. of Jharkhand. The Society shall be primarily engaged in promotion and training in the field of aviation.

Presently Imparting training is being imparted on motor gliders up to the Glider Pilot License (GPL), and Aeromodelling facilities are being provided at Ranchi. Additionally, Society is providing Chartering of fixed-wing aircraft and air ambulance services to the general public of state of Jharkhand.

Though late Shibu Soren could not institutionalise it, his son Hemant Soren, who is now the CM, fulfilled his father’s dream.

Now, JFI will offer aviation training opportunities to youths that were previously provided to individuals in the region mainly by private institutions like Jain Aviation International in Ranchi, which is associated with a flying school in the USA, or other established academies.