Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) will make sure that 13 airports in tier 2 cities sees steady air traffic. RN Choubey, Aviation Secretary, said, "Air India has got 15 routes, Spice Jet has got 11, Turbo 18, Air Deccan 34, and Air Odisha has got 50 routes." 43 other airports, along with the 13 lesser known airports, will be part of this project.
Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju said, "Within 4-6 months, all these new regional flights will become operational. UDAN will have a positive effect on the economy, in terms of employment, and investment." Some of the routes under the scheme will cover Bhatinda-Delhi, Gwalior-Indore, Gwalior-Lucknow, Pathankot-Delhi, Agra-Jaipur, Diu-Surat, Jamnagar-Ahmedabad, Kanpur-Varanasi, Pondicherry-Chennai, and Bilaspur-Raipur.
Deputy Jayant Sinha informed, "205 Crore will be needed for subsidy to implement this." Under the scheme, airlines will receive a viability gap funding in which 80 per cent of the subsidy will be provided by the state government and the remaining by the Centre. Raju said that 50 per cent of the seats under the RCS for a one hour flight will be available under Rs 2500.
