At Half Way Mark, Government's UDAN Scheme Is Work In Progress
NDTV
Till December 2020, only 23 airports had been developed under the UDAN scheme, even as it is half way through its tenure period
Aiming to connect small towns with aerial routes to give the quintessential common man or ‘aam admi' the opportunity to undertake air travel, the government had unveiled the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) on October 21, 2016.
Under it,100 new airports as well as heliports and water aerodromes are to be developed between 2019 and 2024 to support the UDAN scheme. In addition to this, 780 valid routes have been allotted to shortlisted airlines after four rounds of bidding.
The Airports Authority of India has earmarked a sum of about Rs 25,000 crores for a period of five years, i.e. from 2019 to 2024, during which the 100 new airports, heliports and water dromes will be made operational.
As of now though, out of 780 valid routes, only 359 routes have been made operational, according to official sources.
