Lok Sabha Question No. 904 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-21
Subject: Regional Connectivity Scheme
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: VIJAY KUMAR S.R., SHASHI THAROOR, VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI, VEENA DEVI, RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE, SUKENDER REDDY GUTHA, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, M. B. RAJESH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA 904 (To be answered on the 21st July 2016)

## REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY SCHEME

`

904.

SHRI SR VIJAYAKUMAR

DR SHASHI THAROOR

SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR

SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI

SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN

SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE

SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

SHRI MB. RAJESH

## Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether the new civil aviation policy proposes to introduce the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in the country, if sO, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to provide regional air connectivity with unserved and underserved airports at an airfare of Rs. 2500 an hour with small aircraft and also provide subsidy to airlines for the purpose
- (b) whether the Government proposes to permit local participation to select sites under RCS and take into account the needs of local stakeholders in the reasons therefor; body
- through regional connectivity fund, if s0, the details thereof;
- (e) the number of airlines that have for unserved airports of the
- (d) whether the Government proposes to operate passenger flights on routes connecting major airports to unserved and underserved airports and vice versa under the RCS as per the recently drafted policy with the help of State Governments and Viability Funding (VGF); if s0, the details thereof; Gap
- (f) whether helicopter services are proposed for North-Eastern Region under Public Private Partnership modal, if so, the details thereof; and
- country after the announcement of said policy, airport-wise; applied
- (g) whether the Government has decided to come up with easy entry and easy exit rules for airlines and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION

(Shri Jayant Sinha)

(a) to (g): Yes Madam; The Government has recently approved National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 which inter-alia envisages Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS): Details of the Scheme as envisaged in the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016 is attached at Annexure.

*#***

'`

.

<!-- image -->

## Reglonal Connectivity Scheme

<!-- image -->

.

- The Regional Ccnnectivity Scherne (RCS) will come into effect in the second quarter of 2016-17 .
- b) Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) will target an indicative airfare of Rs 2500 per passenger approximately, indexed to inflation, for a significant part of the capacity of the aircraft for a distance of 500kms to 600 kms: on RCS routes (equivalent to about one flexible menu of options to the interested scheduled airline operators.
- c} This will be implemented by way of:
- i) Revival cf uri-served under-served airportsl roltes,   including routes connecting Agatti and Leh,
- iv) Cost-effective security solutions by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS} . and State Governments.
- d) Currently arcund 75 out of 450 airstripslairports have scheduled operations Revival of the remaining air strips and airports will be "demand driven" , depending on firm demand from airline operators, as No-Frills Airports will be done at an indicative cost of Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore; without insisting on its financial viability. Inputs from and willingness of the State Governments will be taken before revival oi any airport is undertaken: AAII State Govts can explore possibilities of developing these airports through PPP also
- e) RCS will be made operational only in those States which reduce VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) at these airports to 1% or less for a period of 10 years
- also provide multi-modal hinterland connectivity (road, rail, metro, waterways, etc) as
- 9) For upto10 years from the date of commencement of flight operations under RCS:
- There will be airport charges levied for operations under RCS. Landing; parking and Terrriinal Navigation Landing charges (TNLC) shall be waived and Route Navigatiori and Facilitation charges (RNFC) will be levied on a nominal basis .
- 90%) of tickets for passengers embarking from or terminating in an RCS airport without any input credits for an initial  period 1 year from the date of commencement of operations of the RCS airport as notified by MoCA

.

- iv) Seif ground handling by airlines will be allowed for operations under RCS at all airports.
- iii) State government will provide and fire services free of cost Power; water and other utilities will be provided at substantially concessional rates; police
- from the RCS airports tor an initial of three' from the date of notification. period years
- vi) VGF indexed to ATF prices ad inflation will be provided for a parlicular route , on a competitive bidding basis iF necessary; for 8 period upto 10 years from commencement of operation by an airline. :
- For the North Eastern States, the ratio will be 90:10,The payment of the full amount of VGF will be made to the airline operator from the Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) and the State Governments will be subsequently asked reimbursement:
- j) McCA's share of VGF will be provided through the RCF.
- j) RCF will be funded by a levy from a date to be notified by the Government under Sectiori 5(2)(ab) of the Aircraft Act 1934. The RCF levy per departure will be\_ on all domestic routes other than Cat II / Cat IIA routes, RCS routes and small aircraft below 80 seats irrespective of the routes. The rate of the will be decided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation from time to time. applied levy
- The premium realized, if any, from the allotment of additional capacity entitlements on
- I) The RCF will be collected and operated by AAl or any other entity identified by MoCA for implementing the scheme  The Implementing Agency will also provide necessary details to the State Governments for collecting the share of VGF from them: '`
- m) Similarly, upto 10 years from the date of commencement of cargo operations at the RCS airports, the air freighters will be entitled to the following:
- i) Excise Duty on ATF drawn by cargo operators from the RCS airports shall be at the rate of 2% for a of 3 from the date of notification. period years
- i) There will be no airport charges levied for operations under RCS. TNLC shall be waived and RNFC will be levied cn a norninal basis.
- ili) However; Cargo operators will not be entitied to VGF.
- Continuance of VGF for a particular route will be subject to appropriate Pessenger and subject to review after 3 years period
- Prioritization of routes will be carried out and reviewed from tire to time 80 that there 0) is balanced growth of regional connectivity in different parts of the country. '
- p) Operators will be Froviced a menu of options, with in-built mechanism for ease of into and exit from RCS. entiy
- ) Thev will have freedom to enter into code shares with both domestic and international q) will have airlines. They

<!-- image -->

<!-- image -->