The UDAN scheme has been extended for another 10 years, with the Centre targeting faster airport construction, agreements with all states and up to Rs 60,000 crore in economic impact from the next phase of regional air connectivity.
Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said 21 states have already signed memoranda of understanding with the Ministry of Civil Aviation. West Bengal is scheduled to sign its agreement on September 28, while the remaining states are expected to complete their documents within the next two to three weeks.
Speaking at a press conference after an MoU signing ceremony for the upcoming phase, Naidu said the government expected to close the agreements with all states shortly. The new phase follows the completion of 10 years of the regional connectivity programme, which was designed to expand air travel to underserved and unserved locations through subsidised services.
According to the minister, the earlier phase helped operationalise more than 90 airports and provided subsidised air connectivity to around 1.54 crore passengers over the past decade. The government now plans to deploy nearly Rs 30,000 crore over the next 10 years. Contributions from states and other stakeholders could potentially double the overall investment, Naidu said.
The government is also changing how selected airports are developed. Key projects will be taken up through a challenge model intended to reduce the time required to construct airports. Under the new framework, projects are expected to be completed within 18 months after construction begins, compared with an earlier average gestation period of three years.
Naidu said the government had drawn lessons from the earlier phase and would prioritise the most important airport projects rather than taking up all locations at once. The stated objective is to increase the speed at which airports are constructed under the extended programme.
The minister also linked the aviation expansion to rising passenger demand and the longer-term Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. The government aims to have more than 350 operational airports and wants at least five domestic airlines to operate fleets of 100 aircraft or more each.
The announcement also included an update on SpiceJet, which remains under scrutiny by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Naidu said the airline was being monitored on operational matters and, to some extent, financial matters, with passenger safety identified as the ministry’s priority.
The Centre remains in discussions with the airline but must operate within the statutory framework applicable to private carriers, the minister said. SpiceJet had earlier received Rs 150 crore through the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme during difficult conditions for the aviation industry. Naidu said the airline and its lenders would have to resolve the remaining financial arrangements.
The immediate milestones for the UDAN expansion are the signing of West Bengal’s MoU on September 28 and the completion of agreements with the remaining states over the following two to three weeks.
