Lok Sabha Question No. 51 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-01-29
Subject: UDAN Scheme in North-Eastern Region
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 51

( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  29th January 2026 )

## UDAN SCHEME IN NORTH-EASTERN REGION

51.    SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA              Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Government is aware that several hill and border districts of the North-Eastern Region, especially in Manipur, continue to lack reliable air connectivity,  affecting  medical  emergencies,  disaster  response,  economic activity  and  national  integration  despite  the  implementation  of  the  UDAN scheme and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the number of airports, heliports and routes sanctioned, operationalised and discontinued under UDAN scheme in each North-Eastern State since its inception;

(c) whether  the  Government  has  received  any  proposal  or  demand  for establishing a greenfield airport or upgrading any existing airstrip at Churachandpur district of Manipur, one of the largest and most remote hill districts of the State and if so, the details and present status thereof; and

(d) whether any feasibility study, land identification or technical survey has been carried out for an airport in or around Churachandpur and if so, the details thereof  along  with  the  timeline  fixed  for  providing  air  connectivity  to  the district under UDAN scheme?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Murlidhar Mohol)

(a) to (d): The Government is aware that several hill and border districts in the North-Eastern Region, including Manipur, face challenges in air connectivity. To address this, under the Regional Connectivity Scheme-Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik  (RCS-UDAN)  scheme,  helicopter  and  fixed-wing  routes  are  being developed to improve connectivity to remote, hilliy and underserved region.The  heliports  namely,  Jiribam,  Moreh,  Parbung,  Tamenglong,  and Thanlon were identified for RCS helicopter operations during the 2nd round of bidding under UDAN in the State of Manipur. ; Till  date,  34  RCS  routes  (fixed-wing  and  helicopter)  have  been  awarded  in Manipur, out of which 20, including 6 helicopter routes, are operational. The State-wise  summary  of  valid,  operationalised,  and  discontinued  routes  in North-Eastern States is placed at Annexure.; ; Further, as per the Greenfield Airport Policy-2008, no proposal for construction of a Greenfield airport in Churachandpur district has been received so far.; ; No feasibility study, land identification, or technical survey has been conducted for an airport in or around Churachandpur. However, under UDAN 5.5, the Churachandpur helipad has been identified for development and RCS routes connecting it to Mualpui (Mizoram) have been awarded to Pawan Has Limited

(PHL).

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## Annexure

## STATEWISE SUMMARY OF NER ROUTES UNDER RCS-UDAN

|   Sr. No. | State             |   No. of valid RCS routes awarded |   No. of RCS routes operationalised |   No. of routes discontinued |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------|
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh |                                16 |                                  10 |                            2 |
|         2 | Assam             |                                59 |                                  36 |                           16 |
|         3 | Manipur           |                                24 |                                  13 |                            3 |
|         4 | Meghalaya         |                                11 |                                   9 |                            6 |
|         5 | Mizoram           |                                11 |                                   2 |                            2 |
|         6 | Nagaland          |                                17 |                                   4 |                            2 |
|         7 | Sikkim            |                                 6 |                                   3 |                            3 |
|         8 | Tripura           |                                 7 |                                   3 |                            2 |