Cabinet Meet Outcome: Giving a new shape to the regional air connectivity initiative, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a revised ‘UDAN’ scheme. An outlay of Rs 28,840 crore has been allocated for this scheme over a period of ten years. Under this scheme, financial assistance will be provided for the development of airports, associated operations and maintenance activities, the construction of helipads, and the procurement of aircraft manufactured in India.
Airlines will be provided with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for operating UDAN routes, and this amount is estimated at Rs 10,043 crore over a ten-year period, commencing from the financial year 2026-27.
100 airports, 200 modern helipads
Briefing media personnel following the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that under the revised scheme, 100 airports will be developed by upgrading existing unused airstrips with the assistance of state governments, and an expenditure of Rs 12,159 crore will be incurred in this regard over the next eight years.
The scheme aims to develop 200 modern helipads at Rs 15 crore each, amounting to a total requirement of Rs 3,661 crore over the next eight years (inflation-adjusted), an official release said.
The focus will be to develop helipads in priority and aspirational districts to improve last-mile connectivity and emergency response.
Towards Operation & Maintenance (O&M) works, the scheme will provide support for three years, capped at Rs 3.06 crore per annum per airport and Rs 0.90 crore per annum per heliport/water aerodrome. The total amount is estimated to be Rs 2,577 crore for around 441 aerodromes.
According to the government, the funding is being proposed, given the high recurring O&M costs and limited revenue streams for the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-only aerodromes.
“To address the shortage of small fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters required for operations in remote and difficult terrains and to advance the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, the scheme also proposes to procure two HAL Dhruv helicopters for Pawan Hans and two HAL Dornier aircraft for Alliance Air,” according to PIB.
The modified UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme has been approved for the period from FY2026-27 to FY 2035-36 with a total outlay of Rs 28,840 crore, and there will be budgetary support from the central government.
The existing UDAN scheme ends later this year.
Since the launch of UDAN in October 2016, the government said 663 routes have been operationalised across 95 airports, heliports and water aerodromes. These figures are till February 28.
More than 3.41 lakh flights have been operated, carrying 162.47 lakh passengers under the scheme, which has fostered growth in regional airlines and diverse fleet operations, it added.
India is one of the world’s fastest-growing domestic civil aviation markets.
Cabinet approves proposal to develop 100 new airports under UDAN 2.0; from immigration, visa tracking plan to NDC, these are the key decisions: | Key highlights
- Cabinet approves UDAN scheme modification with outlay of 28,840 cr
- Cabinet approves Rs 1,800 cr immigration, visa tracking plan
- Cabinet approves Nationally Determined Contributions(NDC) under Paris Agreement
- Cabinet approves proposal to develop 100 new airports under UDAN 2.0
- 200 new modern helipads will be developed under UDAN 2.0
- Govt to develop 100 new airports with 12,160 cr support
