Focus on Priority Regions North East Region, Hilly States and Islands
New Delhi : Following the three successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has approved 78 new routes under the 4th round of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)- UdeDeshKaAamNagrik (UDAN) to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country. NER, Hilly States and Islands have been given priority in the approval process for the new routes. 29 served, 08 unserved (including 02 heliports and 01 water aerodrome), and 02 underserved airports have been included in the list for approved routes. Overall 766 routes have been sanctioned so far under the UDAN scheme.
Commenting on this development, Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, said, “Following the three successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had launched the 4th round of UDAN in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands. The awarding of these 78 routes under UDAN 4 is in line with the Act East Policy of the Central Government. The airports that had already been developed by AAI are given higher priority for the award of VGF under the Scheme. Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated. Since its inception, MoCA has operationalised 274 UDAN routes that have connected 45 airports and 3 heliports.”
The approved RCS routes include the following:
List of Unserved airports:
- Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh
- Rupsi, Assam
- Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
- Hisar, Haryana
- Misa (Heliport), Assam
- Geleki (Heliport), Assam
- Minicoy, Lakshadweep
- Kavaratti (Water aerodrome), Lakshadweep
List of Underserved airports:
- Agatti, Lakshadweep Passighat
- Arunachal Pradesh
