Govt to extend UDAN scheme for 10 more years: Aviation Minister Naidu

New Delhi: The government will extend the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN for 10 more years as 50 more airports are being planned besides enhancing capacity of existing airports, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday.

Addressing a function to mark eight years of UDAN scheme, he said 601 routes and 71 airports have been operationalised and it has led to the birth and growth of regional airlines, generation of jobs and contribution to tourism.

"We are envisioning the UDAN scheme for another ten years because in the next five years, we are planning to start 50 more airports or enhance the capacity of existing airports. By 2047, we feel that we have the capacity to increase the number of airports to more than 200. We have 157 today and we can take it up to 350," he said.

He said the regional connectivity scheme has been a "revolutionary scheme" and the major beneficiary has been remote areas of the country, especially the northeast areas or the hinterland areas where there was no connectivity at all.

UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), which is aimed at enhancing regional air connectivity, was introduced on October 21, 2016 for 10 years.

A total of 86 aerodromes -- comprising 71 airports, 13 heliports, and 2 water aerodromes -- have been operationalised, facilitating the travel of over 1.44 crore passengers across more than 2.8 lakh flights under the scheme.

He also said they would work towards designing and manufacturing aircraft in India with the help of the industry players.

“We are taking help from HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) and NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories) and other industry partners we have. In the foreseeable future, we want to also have a situation where we manufacture planes not only for domestic demand only but also for the demand of the entire world... we are going to move towards it,” he said.