{"id":79573,"date":"2026-07-18T17:59:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T12:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=79573"},"modified":"2026-07-18T18:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T12:30:07","slug":"modified-udan-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-07-2026\/modified-udan-scheme","title":{"rendered":"Modified UDAN: Strengthening India\u2019s Regional Aviation Network"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Infrastructure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the <strong>Modified UDAN Scheme<\/strong> with a <strong>\u20b928,840 crore outlay (FY 2026\u201327 to FY 2035\u201336)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) \u2013 UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik)<\/strong> was launched in <strong>2016<\/strong> by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to make air travel <strong>affordable, accessible and widespread<\/strong>, especially in <strong>unserved and underserved regions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Key Features:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Capping fares on certain regional routes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for airlines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Revival of unused airports, heliports and water aerodromes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Financial and operational support from the Centre and States.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Funding through the <strong>Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) Levy<\/strong>, a sector-funded mechanism unique to India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Achievements of UDAN (2016-2026)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India emerged as the <strong>third largest domestic aviation market<\/strong> in the world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Operational airports grew from <strong>74 (2014) to 165 (July 2026) &amp; 679 UDAN routes<\/strong> are operational.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Over <strong>3.58 lakh flights<\/strong> were operated and <strong>1.68 crore passengers<\/strong> more were benefited.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Better connectivity in remote places like <strong>Tezpur, Passighat, Pithoragarh, Diu, Rourkela.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Passenger-centric initiatives like <strong>UDAN Yatri Caf\u00e9s, Flybrary and free Wi-Fi<\/strong> have enhanced the experience at airports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why was Modified UDAN Needed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There were several challenges:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Many of the regional airports continued to make losses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High operating and maintenance costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Aircraft availability is limited for short regional routes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inadequate airport infrastructure in remote areas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Weak connectivity in hilly, island and border areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Need for greater private sector involvement and for long-term sustainability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Modified UDAN Scheme (2026)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is the <strong>next phase of India\u2019s regional aviation policy<\/strong> for next 10 years (FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Focus Areas:<\/strong> Expansion of Infrastructure; Sustainable Operations at Airports; Viability of Airlines; Improved Helicopter Connectivity; Indigenous Capacity Building for Aviation; Inclusive Development of the Region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Components<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Development of Aerodromes:<\/strong> 100 new airports, 441 aerodromes and 200 modern helipads to be developed from existing unserved airstrips.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is designed to build regional aviation infrastructure, link small towns to the national aviation network and facilitate the movement of passengers and cargo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Operation &amp; Maintenance (O&amp;M) Support:<\/strong> Funds to help maintain operations at smaller airports.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Up to Rs 3.06 crore\/year per airport;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Up to \u20b90.90 crore per year for each heliport\/water aerodrome<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for Airlines:<\/strong> Financial support for a period of<strong> up to 5 years;<\/strong> taper funding from the <strong>third year,<\/strong> and route exclusivity <strong>limited to 3 years.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Its aim is to encourage airlines to serve regional routes until they are commercially viable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atmanirbhar Bharat &amp; Indigenous Aviation:<\/strong> The scheme proposes to provide <strong>2 HAL Dhruv helicopters to Pawan Hans and 2 HAL Dornier aircraft to Alliance Air<\/strong> for the promotion of indigenous aircraft manufacturing.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It enhances indigenous aviation capability, reduces dependence on imports and supports operations in tough terrain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressNoteDetails.aspx?id=159240&amp;NoteId=159240&amp;ModuleId=3&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: PIB<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the Modified UDAN Scheme with a \u20b928,840 crore outlay (FY 2026\u201327 to FY 2035\u201336). <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) \u2013 UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) was launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to make air travel affordable, accessible and widespread, especially in unserved and underserved regions. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-07-2026\/modified-udan-scheme \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79573"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79576,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79573\/revisions\/79576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}