21 UDAN routes connecting Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand to be bid in a week

Members of the crowds cheer and take photographs as 'Turkish Stars', F-5 fighter airplanes, the aerobatic team of the Turkish Air Force, fly in formation over Istanbul's new airport, during the Teknofest aviation, space and technology fair in Istanbul, Turkey. (Image: AP/PTI)

The government will soon invite bids for 21 new routes under the government’s regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, to connect few “left out” places in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

“Bids on these routes will be invited on February 8-9, 2019,” a senior aviation ministry told Moneycontrol.

The official further said that the new routes will connect unserved areas of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and north-eastern states.

UDAN, short for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, is a government sponsored scheme to connect tier-II and tier-III cities with tier-I or metro cities. The scheme aims to make air travel affordable for economically weaker citizens by capping fares, for every one hour flight, at Rs 2,500.

The scheme, launched in 2016-17, is funded by the government through a Viability Gap Fund, where the government reimburses the airlines for subsidised pricing.

Centre, on January 25, released 235 routes that were awarded under third phase of the scheme. Certain routes, however, were yet to be finalised in consultation with state governments and were withheld by the ministry.

Ministry of civil aviation has already awarded 128 routes under the first phase of UDAN and 312 routes under the second phase. Of these, 76 routes are operational under the former and 60 are operational under the latter.

India has close to 100 airports that are operational at the moment coupled with 31 helipads that are being prepared for operation.

The 235 routes, under the third phase, will provide connectivity to 16 new airports, 17 under-served airports, 50 served airports and six aerodromes, taking the total connectivity to 89 airports under the this phase.