A Central Government scheme of Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) i.e. let the country’s common man fly, is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2022. This first of its kind scheme, headed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), stimulates Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) through a market-based mechanism. UDAN in Hindi means “flight”
- It ensures common man to commute between smaller cities in a short time, and at an affordable cost.
- The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is its implementing agency.
More about UDAN:
i.Launched in October 2016, it is a regional airport development programme of upgrading underserved air routes. It makes regional air connectivity affordable through:
- Concessions by Central Government, State Governments and airport operators
- Financial (Viability Gap Funding or VGF) support
ii.It provides connectivity to un-served and under-served regions through revival of existing air strips and airports.
- The first UDAN flight was launched by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi on 27th April 2017 from Jubbarhatti Airport, Shimla to Delhi.
Salient Features:
iii.It is a key component of National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016.
iv.Under the scheme, the fare for 500 km is ∼Rs 2,500.
v.The first flight under UDAN scheme took off from Jubbarhatti Airport, Shimla to New Delhi.
Current Scenario:
i.Currently, over 415 UDAN routes connect 66 underserved/unserved airports, including heliports and water aerodromes,
ii.Over 92 lakh people have benefited from the scheme.
iii.It has so far resulted in more than 1.79 lakh flights.
iv.As of March 21, 2022, the total collection in the Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust was Rs 2,459 crore, and viability gap funding disbursed to the selected airline operator under UDAN was Rs 1,784 crore.
v.MoCA is committed to construct 100 new airports by 2024 in India with 1,000 new routes under the UDAN scheme by 2026.
vi.According to government data, the scheme also led to a 5% incremental growth in domestic passenger share of non-metro airports.
Recent Related News:
i.On March 24-27, 2022, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) jointly organized Wings India 2022 on the theme ‘India@75: New Horizon for Aviation Industry’ at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Telangana is the host state of the event.
ii.In March 2022, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, introduced a 19-seater aircraft ‘Hindustan 228’ in a first of its kind attempt to develop small civil transport aircraft under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) Scheme.
About Ministry of Civil Aviation(MoCA):
Union Minister– Jyotiraditya Scindia (Rajya Sabha- Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State– Vijay Kumar Singh (Constituency – Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh)
