Today is a great day for the common man of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is flagging off a flight from Shimla to New Delhi. This is an initiative under the UDAN scheme for regional connectivity. PM Modi dreamt of providing a low-cost air connectivity to the common Indian citizen which is going to fulfil today.
UDAN which means Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) is a scheme where the fares of flights have been capped at Rs.2500 for a one hour journey per seat or a 30 minutes journey by a helicopter. This will be a proportionate pricing for different stage and flight routes.
Under this RCS ( Regional Connectivity Scheme) our PM, Modi will be flagging off the flight for Kadapa-Hyderabad and Nanded-Hyderabad apart from the Shimla-Delhi route.
Modi tweeted that ‘UDAN’ Scheme is the first-of-its-kind scheme globally in the direction to stimulate regional connectivity on the pattern of a market-based mechanism,
The Scheme was launched in October 2016 and remained a key component of the NCAP (National Civil Aviation Policy) released dated 15th Jun’2016.
As per an official disclaimer, the scheme proposed to connect all regions of the country with 24 airports in the west, 17 in north, 11 in south, 12 in east and 6 in north-east. There are some of the completely unserved and underserved airports which are expected to be roped in while connecting the entire range of regional airways. Almost 45 such airports are in process under the UDAN Scheme to resourcefully serve a successful implementation of the regional connectivity. Last month 5 airlines won the bid to serve 128 routes in the process of bidding. The airlines thus selected have to provide 50% of the flight capacity with a cap of Rs 2500 per hour per aircraft and for a helicopter a minimum capacity of 5 whereas a maximum of 13 with the same price cap.
The government has developed a trust factor with the airline operators with extending a Viability gap funding (VGF). Rs 205 crore annually is for the operators who get selected in the first round of bidding. Even the State governments can provide some part of VGF. An MOU has been signed by 3 UT and 19 States for the same.
This is going to be his first visit to Shimla after being a PM. Earlier Modi went there in 2003 as a Chief Minister of Gujarat. He is supposed to address a rally in Shimla at the Ridge Maidan.
Hats off to our PM for his initiation on the RCS and making the costly air travel available for common people at an affordable price. The Aam Nagrik are looking for more of such schemes.
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