India to spend Rs 4,500 cr for underserved airports |
The Indian government is working on reviving and developing 100 unserved and underserved airports, heliports, and water aerodromes by 2023. This is part of a target to operationalize One thousand routes under the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, while replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, said that the Government has approved a budget of Four Thousand Five Hundred Crore rupees for the revival of existing unserved, underserved airports, airstrips of the State Governments, Airports Authority of India, PSUs and Civil Enclaves. He said the Airports Authority of India has been monitoring the progress for the revival/development of awarded aerodromes. He said the UDAN scheme launched in October 2016 is applicable for a period of 10 years. The Minister said UDAN aims to improve the Regional Connectivity Scheme and make air travel affordable to the masses. After four rounds of biddings till last month, 453 routes have been commenced, operationalizing seventy airports including two Water Aerodromes and nine Heliports. Scindia said, under the UDAN scheme, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are provided with air connectivity with affordable airfares. He also said that more than Two lakh UDAN flights have been operated and over ten million passengers have availed of the benefits so far.
|
|
|
|
|
