Lok Sabha Question No. 2748 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-17
Subject: Setting up of Small Airports
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Ajay Nishad

2748.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2748 (To be answered on the March 2022) 17th

## SETTING UP OF SMALL AIRPORTS

SHRI AJAY NISHAD

## Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state:-

- (a) the salient features; targets and objectives of 'UDAN' (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme;
- (c) whether the Government purposes to establish small airports for small cities of tourism importance having no transportation. facility under the said UDAN Scheme;
- (b) whether the aforesaid scheme has achieved its targets and objectives, if the details thereof; SO,
- (d) if the State-wise details thereof including Bihar;
- (0) whether despite Muzaffarpur district 0f Bihar connected with Buddha Circuit; the tourists from all over the world have to face a lot of difficulty t0 visit in the absence of an airport there; and being
- (e) whether in case of receiving no bidder, bidding under the PPP model of UDAN Scheme in such cities of tourism importance, the Government proposes to make any other provision with the help: 0f which airports could be set up;
- (g) whether the same also leads to revenue loss and if S0, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION

(GEN. (DR) V. K SINGH (RETD))

(a): Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on 21-10-2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable for the masses. The salient features of the UDAN scheme are as under:

ii) Financial incentives in terms of concessions from Central; State Governments and airport operators are extended to Selected Airline Operators to encourage operations from unserved/underserved airports/heliports/water aerodromes and to keep the air fare affordable:

d) The Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN is designed to enable air operations on underserved/unserved routes connecting regional areas, promote balanced regional growth and make flying affordable for masses.

- iii) Support to the Selected Airline Operators in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF): State Governments provide 20% share towards VGF for RCS flights

pertaining to their states. However, the share 0f VGF for North-Eastern states and the Union Territories is 10%\_

- v) Airlines are required to commit around 50% of the seats as RCS seats (limited to 40 seats) on RCS flights.
2. iv) Excise Duty at the rate of 2% is levied on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) drawn by Selected Airline Operators at RCS Airports for RCS Flights for a period of three (3) from the date of commencement. years
3. vi) Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) is created by levying Rs.5000/- on each departure of flights on aircraft having MTOW (Maximum Take-Off Weight) above 40 Tonnes except for the departure of flights on routes in North East Region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.

viii) RCS-UDAN is market driven scheme. Interested airlines based on their assessment of demand on particular routes submit proposals at the time of bidding under RCS

- vii) For balanced regional growth, route allocations are spread equitably across five 30% in a given region)-
- (b) to (e): Under UDAN, 948 valid routes have been awarded across the length and breadth in the country including in Bihar, of which, 409 routes connecting 66 unserved and underserved airports including 8 Heliports & 2 water aerodromes have been operationalized as On 14.03.2022. Total 51 Tourism RCS routes have been awarded upto 11.03.2022 which includes Buddhist Circuit routes connecting Kushinagar and under UDAN. Further, the list of 66 operationalized UDAN airports/heliports/water aerodromes is annexed. Ministry of Civil Aviation; in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism, has facilitated the award of Tourism routes to various airlines. Gaya
- (f) to (g): Muzzafarpur in Bihar figures in the tentative list of unserved airports in the UDAN scheme document. However, no airline has submitted bid from the airport for operations of UDAN flights.

The primary objective of UDAN is t0 facilitate stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable: Promoting affordability of regional air connectivity is envisioned under UDAN by supporting Selected Airline Operators (SAOs) through concession by Central Government, State Governments/UTs and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operations 0n regional routes and financial (Viability Gap Funding or VGF) support to meet the gap; if any, between the cost of airline

Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2748 for 17.03.2022 regarding "Setting Up of Small Airports"

List of 66 airports/heliportslater aerodromes operationalized under UDAN scheme.

| SNo.   | State             | Airport                              |
|--------|-------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh    | Kadapa                               |
| 2      |                   | Kurnool Airport                      |
| 3.     | Assam             | Jorhat                               |
| 4      |                   | Lilabari                             |
| 5      |                   | Tezpur                               |
| 6.     |                   | Rupsi                                |
| 7      | Arunachal Pradesh | Tezu                                 |
| 8_     |                   | Passighat                            |
| 9_     | Bihar             | Darbhanga                            |
| 10.    | Chhattisgarh      | Jagdalpur                            |
| 11_    |                   | Bilaspur                             |
| 12     | Daman & Diu       | Diu                                  |
| 13.    | Gujarat           | Bhavnagar                            |
| 14.    |                   | Jamnagar                             |
| 15.    |                   | Kandla                               |
| 16.    |                   | Mundra                               |
| 17.    |                   | Porbandar                            |
| 18.    |                   | Statue of Unity (Water Aerodromes-W) |
| 19.    |                   | Sabarmati River Front (W)            |
| 20.    | Haryana           | Hissar                               |
| 21.    | Himachal Pradesh  | Shimla                               |
| 22.    |                   | Kullu                                |
| 23.    |                   | Mandi (H)                            |
| 24.    |                   | Rampur (H)                           |
| 25.    | Karnataka         | Belgaum                              |
| 26.    |                   | Hubli                                |
| 27.    |                   | Mysore                               |
| 28.    |                   | Vidyanagar                           |
| 29.    |                   | Kalaburgi (Gulbarga)                 |
| 30.    |                   | Bidar                                |
| 31.    | Kerala            | Kannur                               |
| 32     | Madhya Pradesh    | Gwalior                              |
| 33.    | Maharashtra       | Gondia                               |
| 34     |                   | Jalgaon                              |
| 35_    |                   | Kolhapur                             |
| 36.    |                   | Nanded                               |
| 37.    |                   | Ozar (Nasik)                         |
| 38_    |                   | Sindhudurg                           |
| 39_    | Meghalaya         | Shillong                             |
| 40.    | Nagaland          | Dimapur                              |
| 41_    | Odisha            | Jharsuguda                           |
| 42.    | Pondicherry (UT)  | Pondicherry                          |
| 43.    | Punjab            | Adampur                              |

| S No.   | State         | Airport           |
|---------|---------------|-------------------|
| 44_     |               | Bhatinda          |
| 45_     |               | Ludhiana          |
| 46_     |               | Pathankot         |
| 47.     | Rajasthan     | Bikaner           |
| 48.     |               | Jaisalmer         |
| 49.     |               | Kishangarh        |
| 50.     | Sikkim        | Pakyong_          |
| 51_     | Tamil Nadu    | Salem             |
| 52      | Uttar Pradesh | Agra              |
| 53_     |               | Allahabad         |
| 54_     |               | Kanpur(Chakeri)   |
| 55_     |               | Hindon            |
| 56.     |               | Bareilly          |
| 57      |               | Kushinagar        |
| 58      | Uttarakhand   | Pantnagar         |
| 59.     |               | Pithoragarh       |
|         |               | Sahastradhara (H) |
| 61.     |               | Chinyalisaur (H)  |
| 62.     |               | Gaucher (H)       |
| 63.     |               | New Tehri (H)     |
| 64.     |               | Srinagar (H)      |
| 65.     |               | Haldwani (H)      |
| 66.     | West Bengal   | Durgapur          |

<!-- image -->