NAME : UDAN ( UDE DESHKA AAM NAGRIK ) RCS ( Regional Connectivity Scheme )
TYPE OF YOJANA : This is a regional airport development and regional connectivity scheme of Government of India, with the objective of providing affordable air travel to common Indian citizens.
MINISTRY : Ministry of Civil Aviation
WEBSITE : http://civilaviation.gov.in
PURPOSE : Basic aim of this scheme is making air travel affordable and widespread and to fulfill the dream of travelling by Air of common citizen of India.
- To boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure for development of all regions and states of India.
PROJECT DETAILS : The First component is to develop new and enhance the existing regional airports to increase the number of operational airports for the scheduled civilian flights from 70 as on May 2016, to at least 150 airports by December 2018 with regular scheduled flights.
- Initially more than 100 underserved and un served regional airports will be developed by December 2018, for which the initial funding of Rs. 4500 Crores was approved in May 2017.
- The Second component is to add several hundred financially-viable capped-airfare new regional flight routes to connect more than 100 underserved and unserved airports in smaller towns with each other as well as with well served airports in bigger cities by using “Viability Gap Funding” (VGF) where needed.
- Under this yojana the Air fare is fixed at Rs.2,500 per hour of flight for the 50% of the seats e. 9 RCS seats and max 40 RCS seats per fixed-wing flight, and max 12 helicopter RCS seats per heli flight connecting unserved and underserved regional airports, For the remaining 50% seats air fare will be at prevalent market rate. Capped RCS fares will also be graded based on distance, e.g. Rs. 1,420 for a distance of 151–175 km, Rs. 1,500 for a distance of 176–200 km, and so on, with a ceiling of maximum Rs. 3,500 fare for a total distance of 800 km or more.
- For the helicopter services maximum fare is also capped at INR2,500 for every 30-minute leg of flight. Capped helicopter fare will be graded on the basis of time of flight
BENEFITS : Due to this yojana many underserved and un served regional airports have received regular passenger air service. Prominent amongst these regional airports are Bhatinda, Bikaner , Kadappa, Porbandar, Pondicherry, Agra, Kandla, Nanded, Shirdi etc.
- Indian citizens from lower or middle class back ground are now enjoy Air Travel due to low air fares under this yojana.
- See some of these flight options displayed on the travel web portal Make my Trip Delhi to Shimla, Hyderabad to Nanded, Delhi to Bhatinda, Hyderabad to Pondicherry, Hyderabad to Kadapa, Delhi to Bikaner, Nanded to Hyderabad,Mumbai to Kandla, Mumbai to Porbandar, Mumbai to Shirdi, Jaipur to Agra. All these are regional Air Ports from small towns which have business or religious or tourist importance. The passangers travelling to these destinations are benefitted due to this yojana.
LAUNCHING DETAILS : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the UDAN yojana from Jubbarhatti, an airport on the outskirts of Shimla on 27th April 2017.
BENEFICIARIES : This yojana benefits the large population of lower middle income group citizens.