Govt likely to miss target of flying 30 lakh beneficiaries under UDAN Scheme in FY24

The government had set a target of serving 30 lakh passengers in the FY 2023-24. (Representative image)

The RCS-UDAN Scheme benefitted around 12.5 lakh passengers in the seven months ended October, and it may be challenging for the Union government to meet its target for the full fiscal year.

The government had set a target of serving 30 lakh passengers in the Financial Year 2023-24. To meet its target for the year, the Centre must ensure another 17.5 lakh flyers (approx.) avail of the benefits of the UDAN Scheme in the rest of the year.

Typically, the January-March quarter is a weak one for air travel. So the travel data for November-December, which includes holiday-related travel, may be critical for the country to achieve the target.

The Govt has set a target to operationalise 1,000 UDAN routes and revive/develop 100 unserved and underserved airports/heliports/water aerodromes by 2024 for the operation of UDAN flights.

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The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme envisages providing connectivity to unserved and underserved airports of the country through revival of the existing airstrips and airports. The scheme would be in operation for a period of 10 years.

As of November 28, 2023, Viability Gap Funding (VGF) worth Rs 3,020 crores has been disbursed from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust (RACFT) to selected airline operators under the scheme.

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Out of the Rs 4,500 crores allocated for the development of airports under the scheme, Rs 3,751 crores has been utilised.

Under UDAN, 517 RCS routes have so far commenced operations connecting 76 airports, including two water aerodromes and nine heliports. More than 123 lakh passengers have benefited from the scheme thus far.