UDAN Scheme 5.0
Contents
In-Principle Approval of 21 New Greenfield Airports in Country Accorded by the Government
UDAN Scheme 5.0 launched in April, 2023 after the four successful phases of the scheme. The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to enhance connectivity to remote areas of the country.
Key Features of UDAN Scheme 5.0
- The scheme focuses on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats).
- Now there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight.
- Viability gap funding (VGF) to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority areas which was earlier capped at 500 km.
- No predetermined routes would be offered. Only Network and Individual Route Proposal proposed by airlines will be considered.
- The airlines would be required to submit an action/business plan after 2 months from the issuance of LoA wherein they submit their aircraft acquisition plan/availability of aircraft, crew, slots, etc. at the time of the Technical Proposal.
- The same route will not be awarded to a single airline more than once, whether in different networks or in the same network.
- Exclusivity of operation provided to an airline will be withdrawn if the average quarterly PLF is higher than 75% for four continuous quarters, to prevent exploitation of the monopoly on a route.
- Airlines would be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route. Earlier this deadline was 6 months.
- Novation process for routes from one operator to another is simplified and incentivized.
Objectives of UDAN Scheme 5.0
- Improve the air connectivity to remote and regional areas of India.
Development of remote areas and enhancing trade and commerce and tourism expansion. - Enable common people to access air travel with affordable rates.
- Employment creation in the aviation sector.
21 New Greenfield Airports under UDAN Scheme 5.0
Government of India has accorded ‘In-Principle’ approval for setting up of 21 new Greenfield Airports in the country.
Name of Proposed 21 Greenfield Airports are:
- Mopa in Goa,
- Navi Mumbai,
- Shirdi and
- Sindhudurg in Maharashtra,
- Kalaburagi,
- Vijayapura,
- Hassan and
- Shivamogga in Karnataka,
- Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh,
- Kushinagar and
- Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh,
- Dholera and
- Hirasar in Gujarat,
- Karaikal in Puducherry,
- Dagadarthi,
- Bhogapuram and
- Orvakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh,
- Durgapur in West Bengal,
- Pakyong in Sikkim,
- Kannur in Kerala and
- Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh
Press Notification for In-Principle Approval
Ministry of Civil Aviation
In-Principle approval to set up 21 new Greenfield Airports in country
24 JUL 2023
11 Greenfield airports have already been operationalised
Government of India has accorded ‘In-Principle’ approval for setting up of 21 new Greenfield Airports namely- Mopa in Goa, Navi Mumbai, Shirdi and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Hassan and Shivamogga in Karnataka, Dabra (Gwalior) in Madhya Pradesh, Kushinagar and Noida (Jewar) in Uttar Pradesh, Dholera and Hirasar in Gujarat, Karaikal in Puducherry, Dagadarthi, Bhogapuram and Orvakal (Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh, Durgapur in West Bengal, Pakyong in Sikkim, Kannur in Kerala and Hollongi (Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh across the country.
Out of these, 11 Greenfield airports viz. Durgapur, Shirdi, Kannur, Pakyong, Kalaburagi, Orvakal (Kurnool), Sindhudurg, Kushinagar, Itanagar, Mopa and Shivamogga have been operationalised.
State Government of Tamil Nadu has submitted an application to Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for grant of first stage clearance i.e. ‘Site-Clearance’ for development of a Greenfield airport at Parandur, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu. As per GFA Policy, the proposal has been sent to Airports Authority of India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) for their comments. After completion of this consultation with stakeholders, the proposal is required to be placed before the Steering Committee on Greenfield Airports for their recommendation, with respect to award of Site Clearance.
As per the GFA Policy, 2008, the responsibility of implementation of airport projects including funding of the project, land acquisition, R&R etc rests with the concerned airport developer including the respective State Government (in case the State Government is the project proponent). The timeline for construction of airports depends upon various factors such as land acquisition, mandatory clearances, removal of obstacles, financial closure etc. by the respective airport developers.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Gen. (Dr) V. K. Singh (Retd) in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
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Source : PIB