Modified UDAN Scheme 2026
UDAN next phase with Rs 29,000 cr outlay
- next phase of UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik)
- inaugurated Jodhpur Airport’s New Terminal Building (NTB) in Jodhpur Saturday.
Key Takeaways:
— Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu
On the occasion, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said that the launch of the Modified UDAN Scheme “marks the beginning of a new chapter in India’s aviation journey”.
— UDAN Scheme
Launched in October 2016, the UDAN Scheme has operationalised
- 669 routes and 95 airports,
- heliports and water aerodromes,
- covering over 1.66 crore passengers.
Modified UDAN Scheme
This March, the Union Cabinet had approved the Modified UDAN Scheme with an outlay of approximately Rs 29,000 crore over the next ten years to accelerate aviation-led development.
— The Modified UDAN Scheme focuses on
- expanding regional aviation infrastructure
- development of 100 aerodromes
from existing unserved airstrips with an investment of Rs 12,159 crore.
— Maintenance support for regional airports
It also provides Rs 2,577 crore towards Operations and Maintenance support for regional airports
- development of 200 modern helipads with an investment of Rs 3,661 crore,
- continued Viability Gap Funding of Rs 10,043 crore to sustain regional airline operations.
—induction of indigenous aircraft and helicopters
The scheme also promotes the induction of indigenous aircraft and helicopters, including HAL Dhruv and Dornier platforms, for operations in underserved and remote regions.
— Modi also inaugurated the New Terminal Building at Jodhpur Airport
developed by the Airports Authority of India at a
- cost of Rs 480 crore.
- Spread across 23,342 square metres,
- the terminal is designed to handle 1,500 passengers during peak hours
- and 20 lakh passengers annually.
Do You Know:
—world’s third-largest market
India is the world’s third-largest market in the aviation sector.
UDAN is an initiative by the government
to connect the country’s under-served and unserved airports.
While under-served airports
are those which do not have more than a flight a day,
unserved airports
are those where there are no operations.
The objective of UDAN scheme is to connect small and medium cities with big cities through air service.
What is UDAN?
UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is an initiative by the government to connect the country’s
- under-served and
- unserved airports.
Under the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)
five airlines have won bids to operate on
- 128 routes which will be
- connecting 70 airports.
Out of 70 the airports,
- 31 are unserved and
- 12 under-served.
Will the flights be easy on your pocket?
While the scheme attempts to tackle the issue of
, it also allows for reduction in travelling expenses.
50 per cent seats on each flight will come at Rs 2,500 per seat for one-hour travel.
viability gap funding
The operators will also be extended viability gap funding which will be operational for three years from the date of starting operations in a specific UDAN route.
Which are the states being covered by UDAN?
The flights will be connecting airports spread across over 20 states and union territories including
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Some of the airports covered under the scheme include Bhatinda, Shimla, Bilaspur, Neyveli, Cooch Behar, Nanded and Kadapa.
Who will be operating these routes?
Five airlines
including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary, won the bid to operate on 128 routes.
While the Air India subsidiary Airline Allied Services
- won the bid for 15 routes,
- SpiceJet will be operational on 11 routes.
- Air Odisha Aviation won the maximum number of bids with 50 routes under it’s wing followed by
- Air Deccan (34) and
- Turbo Megha Airways (18).
- The carriers will operate 19-78 seater aircraft.
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