Correct Answer : Saharanpur
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated (20th Oct 2024) three airports, developed under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
These airports are: Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, Ambikapur in Chhatisgarh and Saharanpur in UP. Flights under RCS-UDAN will begin from these airports shortly.
The RCS- UDAN, a government-backed initiative to improve infrastructure and connectivity in India, especially in remote and underserved regions, completes seven years. It is a vital component of India's National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016, launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on October 21, 2016, with a 10-year vision.
The first RCS-UDAN flight was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on April 27, 2017, connecting Shimla to Delhi. The scheme focuses on improving unserved air routes in underserved regions of the country and fulfilling the aspirations of the common citizens.
So far, the RCS-UDAN has facilitated travel of more than 144 lakh passengers, demonstrating its success in enhancing air travel accessibility.
Over the period of 7 years, various versions of UDAN Scheme were launched, as follows :
UDAN 1.0 : Five airlines companies were awarded 128 flight routes to 70 airports (including 36 newly made operational airports)
UDAN 2.0 : 73 underserved and unserved airports were announced and for the first time, helipads were also connected.
UDAN 3.0 : In coordination with the Ministry of Tourism, Tourism Routes were included. In addition to Seaplanes for connecting Water Aerodromes, several routes in the North-East Region came under the ambit of the scheme.
UDAN 4.0 : Gave impetus to North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands. The operation of helicopters and seaplanes incorporated.
UDAN Version 5 – 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 & 5.4 :
Following the four successful rounds of bidding, the Ministry of Civil Aviation launched the 5th version of RCS-UDAN with numerous improvements based on stakeholder feedback.
UDAN 5.0 where the focus is on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats) aircraft. Similarly, the cap of 600 km has been removed and there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight. This round prioritizes the routes that will connect the airports that are ready for operations or will be ready soon, which will lead to quicker operationalization of awarded routes. Consequently, Airlines would now be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route, and they are welcoming this change as this helps them to better plan their operations.
This was soon followed by UDAN 5.1, This round of RCS-UDAN is designed specifically for helicopter routes by increasing the scope of operations for helicopter operators, enhancing VGF and reducing Airfare Caps. The Scheme will now allow operations on routes provided that at least one origin or destination is in a priority area and at least one origin or destination is a heliport, thereby enhancing the potential range of connectivity. VGF caps have been enhanced to improve viability for operators and airfare caps have been reduced to make flying more affordable for passengers respectively.
Later, bidding for UDAN 5.2 was launched to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country, achieve last-mile connectivity, and provide impetus to the tourism sector through small aircraft (<20 seats). The Scheme will provide greater operational flexibility to the small aircraft operators, by allowing them to operate a maximum of 40% of annually quoted RCS seats and a minimum of 10% of annually quoted RCS seats in any given quarter.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation further launched special bidding rounds to operationalize the routes those have been discontinued before completion of tenure or cancelled/terminated due to multiple reasons. In order to further enhance point-to-point air connectivity on such previously identified routes, bids under UDAN 5.3 and UDAN 5.4 were invited from all categories of airline operators. Consequently, UDAN 5.3 was launched in January 2024, while UDAN 5.4 is underway..
Source : PIB
