Lok Sabha Question No. 1955 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-28
Subject: Assessment of RCS-UDAN
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 1955

(To be answered on the 28 th  July 2022)

## ASSESSMENT OF RCS-UDAN

## 1955. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether the Government has made an assessment on the achievements after introduction of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN;
- (b) if so, the details and the action plan thereof;
- (c) the number of airports and routes operationalized under the scheme so

far; and

- (d) the details of the current status and progress of Krishi Udan Scheme?

## ANSWER

(Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia)

- (a) to (c): Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)- UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on 21-10-2016 to enhance regional air connectivity from unserved and underserved airports in the country and  making air travel affordable to the masses. UDAN is a market driven scheme. Interested airlines based on their assessment of demand on particular routes, submit their proposals at the time of bidding under UDAN. Under the Scheme, 425 routes commenced connecting 68 unserved and underserved airports including 8 heliports & 2 water aerodromes have been operationalized as on 25.07.2022. UDAN has transformed the way people travel  in  Tier-2  and  Tier-3  cities.  Regional  airports  like  Jharsuguda, Kishangarh, Belgaum, Darbhanga, etc. have been witnessing exponential growth in air traffic. As on 25.07.2022, over 1.0 crore passengers have traveled in UDAN flights availing affordable air transportation to give impetus to the Civil Aviation Sector. Under UDAN scheme, helicopter and sea planes routes have also been awarded in hilly areas and islands respectively to promote air connectivity. Air transport services are considered as efficient mode of transportation considering the distance and time. Based on the efficiency, availability of  infrastructure, terrain, etc. various modes of transportation mutually supplement each other.

(d):  Krishi  UDAN  Scheme  1.0  was  launched  in  September  2020,  on international and national routes to assist farmers in transporting agricultural products so that it improves their value realisation. Krishi Udan Scheme 2.0 was announced on 27 October 2021 enhancing the existing provisions, mainly focusing on transporting perishable food products from the hilly areas, NorthEastern States and tribal areas. For facilitating and incentivizing movement of agri-produce by air transportation, Airports Authority of India (AAI) provides full waiver of Landing, Parking, Terminal Navigational Landing Charges (TNLC) and Route Navigation Facility Charges (RNFC) for Indian freighters and P2C (Passenger-to-Cargo) Aircraft primarily around 25 airports focusing on North Eastern, Hilly and Tribal region and 28 airports in other regions/areas. Further, after evaluation of Krishi Udan 2.0, five more airports have been included taking it to 58 airports. Krishi  Udan  Scheme  is  a  convergence  scheme  where  eight Ministries/Departments namely Ministry of Civil Aviation, Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) leverage their existing schemes to strengthen the logistics for transportation of Agri-produce.

- *****