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In order to make air travel cheap, accessible and sustainable for the common citizens in the civil aviation sector of India, the Central Government has made a historic launch of ‘Modified UDAN Scheme’. The original RCS-UDAN scheme, launched in 2016, had put tier-2 and tier-3 cities of the country on the air map for the first time. Now the government has molded it into a new and very strong framework by taking past experiences, CAG recommendations and addressing the operational challenges of the airlines. With a total budgetary outlay of ₹28,840 crore for the next 10 years from FY 2026–27 to FY 2035–36, this scheme is going to lay a new network of connectivity in every corner of the country.
The main objective of this revised plan is not only to start new air routes, but also to make them economically self-reliant and sustainable in the long run. Today the domestic aviation market in the country is growing rapidly, but in small cities, flights often stopped as soon as the subsidy ended. A permanent solution to this problem has been found in the revised UDAN scheme, so that common passengers of small and medium cities can get the direct benefit of affordable and timely air travel without interruption 365 days a year.
Under the revised UDAN scheme, infrastructure is being created on a large scale to connect remote, aspirational and tourist areas of the country. Under the scheme, 100 new aerodromes/airports will be developed in ‘challenge mode’ by modernizing the already existing but unused airstrips. For this, a special budget of ₹12,159 crore has been allocated over a period of 8 years. With this, regular commercial flights will be able to reach even those small towns where people had to go hundreds of kilometers away to big metros to catch a flight.
Along with this, 200 state-of-the-art helipads will be built at a cost of ₹3,661 crore to overcome the biggest hurdle of connectivity in the hilly, north-eastern, border and island areas. An average provision of ₹15 crore has been kept for each helipad, so that helicopter services in medical emergencies, disaster relief and difficult areas can remain operational in all weather conditions. Short runways and seaplane (water aerodrome) infrastructure for water areas have also been made an integral part of the plan.
The biggest flaw seen in the original UDAN scheme was that airlines used to close routes to small cities as soon as the 3-year government subsidy ended. This policy has been completely changed in the revised flight plan. Airlines will be given Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ₹10,043 crore over 10 years to increase passenger numbers on new routes and achieve financial sustainability. Apart from this, the period of subsidy has also been extended making it practical, due to which the aviation companies will not have to fear of losses and the general public will continue to get affordable tickets at the prescribed limit.
Additionally, for the first time, the Government has made provision for separate ‘Operation and Maintenance’ (O&M) assistance for the daily operations and maintenance of airports. Under this, financial assistance will be given to about 441 small aerodromes, heliports and water aerodromes for 3 years. Each RCS airport will receive maintenance assistance up to a maximum of ₹3.06 crore and heliport up to ₹90 lakh annually. This will avoid closure of small airports with fewer flights and the burden of their operating costs will not fall on the local administration.
Another unique feature of the revised UDAN scheme is its ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ model. Large Boeing or Airbus aircraft cannot land in India’s inaccessible areas and short runways, due to which there was a severe shortage of small fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. To overcome this shortcoming, it has been decided to direct deployment of indigenous aircraft manufactured by the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under the scheme.
Under this, two HAL Dornier-228 aircraft are being included in the fleet of government aviation company Alliance Air and two HAL Dhruv ALH helicopters are being included in the fleet of Pawan Hans. The operation of these locally manufactured aircraft will not only boost domestic aerospace manufacturing in the country but will also eliminate dependence on foreign companies for spare parts and maintenance.
The revised UDAN scheme is not just an expansion of aviation companies or infrastructure but will have direct benefits on the common man’s pocket and travel time. Under this, the ‘fair cap’ (fare limit) fixed by the government remains applicable on about 50% of the seats, due to which the per hour flight fare remains favorable to the general budget. Starting flights directly from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to major commercial centers will give a tremendous boost to trade, employment and local tourism.
With this, in case of medical emergency, the 10 to 12 hour road journey required to take a patient to a big hospital will now be reduced to just 45 to 60 minutes by air travel. This revised UDAN scheme, run with the joint support of the Central Government and State Governments (GST exemption, reduction in VAT and free security and fire services), will prove to be the biggest medium to turn the dream of air travel of every citizen of India into reality in the coming decade.