UDAN Scheme, Objectives, Funding and Achievements

Context: Recently, the first historic flight under the UDAN Scheme has achieved 8 years.

About UDAN Scheme (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik)

The UDAN scheme (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik), or “Let the common man of the country fly,” is a flagship scheme of the Government of India that aims to connect regions through regional air connectivity and provide air transport at affordable prices for common people.

UDAN Scheme was implemented on October 21, 2016, under the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016. The scheme aims at developing and operating unserved and underserved airports in the country. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the nodal agency tasked with its implementation.

• Launched: October 2016
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Civil Aviation
• Objective: To connect small and medium cities with big cities through air service.
• Funding: It is jointly funded by the central government and state governments.
• Under the scheme, airlines have to cap airfares for 50% of the total seats at Rs. 2,500 per hour of flight. This is achieved through;
  • Viability Gap Funding (VGF) – A government grant provided to the airlines to bridge the gap between the cost of operations and expected revenue.

Achievements of UDAN Scheme

• A total of 625 UDAN routes have been operationalised, connecting 90 airports across India.
• Over 1.49 crore passengers have availed of cheap regional air travel under UDAN.
• India’s airport network grew from 74 airports in 2014 to 159 airports in 2024, more than doubling in ten years.
• UDAN boosted regional tourism, access to healthcare, and trade, driving economic growth in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

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