Focus: GS III- Indian Economy
Why in News?
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) has been awarded Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2020 under the category “Innovation (General) – Central”.
About Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN):
Nodal: Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA)
- It is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market.
- Objective:
- To create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the common man even in small towns.
- To stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses.
- The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing air-strips and airports. The scheme is operational for a period of 10 years.
- UDAN is a market driven ongoing scheme where bidding rounds are conducted periodically for covering more destinations/stations and routes under the scheme.
- Interested airlines assess the demand on particular routes connecting these airports and submit their proposals at the time of bidding.
UDAN 1.0
Under this phase, 5 airlines companies were awarded 128 flight routes to 70 airports (including 36 newly made operational airports)
UDAN 2.0
In 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced 73 underserved and unserved airports.
For the first time, helipads were also connected under phase 2 of UDAN scheme.
UDAN 3.0
Key Features of UDAN 3 included:
- Inclusion of Tourism Routes under UDAN 3 in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism.
- Inclusion of Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes.
- Bringing in a number of routes in the North-East Region under the ambit of UDAN.
UDAN 4.0:
- The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.
- The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme.
- Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.
