UDAAN 5.0

ABOUT UDAAN 5.0

Recently, the government has launched the 5th round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN 5.0).

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme :

• launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for regional airport development and regional connectivity enhancement.
• It is a part of the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016.
• The scheme is applicable for a period of 10 years.

Objectives:

• 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.

Key Features:

• Under the scheme, airlines have to cap airfares for 50% of the total seats at Rs. 2,500 per hour of flight.
• A financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators and
• Viability Gap Funding (VGF) – A government grant provided to the airlines to bridge the gap between the cost of operations and expected revenue.
• The partner State Governments (other than UTs and NER states where contribution will be 10%) would contribute a 20% share to this fund.

Previous Phases of the Scheme:

• Phase 1 was launched in 2017, with the objective of connecting underserved and unserved airports in the country.
• Phase 2 was launched in 2018, with the aim of expanding air connectivity to more remote and inaccessible parts of the country.
• Phase 3 was launched in November 2018, with the focus on enhancing air connectivity to hilly and remote regions of the country.
• Phase 4 of the UDAN scheme was launched in December 2019, with a focus on connecting islands and other remote areas of the country.

Key Features of UDAN 5.0:

• It focuses on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats) aircrafts.
• There is no restriction on the distance between the origin and the destination of the flight.

Achievements under UDAN Scheme :

• Provide a fair amount of air connectivity to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities at affordable airfares.
• The number of operational airports has gone up to 141 from 74 in 2014.
• With 425 new routes initiated, UDAN has provided air connectivity to more than 29 States/ UTs across the country.
• More than one crore passengers have availed the benefits of this scheme.

Practice Questions for Prelims

Consider the given statement regarding recently launched the 5th round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN 5.0.
1. launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for regional airport development and regional connectivity enhancement.
2. It is a part of the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016.
3. It has provision for Viability Gap Funding (VGF), a government grant provided to the airlines to bridge the gap between the cost of operations and expected revenue.

Which of the statements given above is / are correct :
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) All of the above

Ans. d)

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