HYDERABAD: Telangana which has been waiting for regional air connectivity has so far not received any support from the Centre. It may come as a surprise but not even a single airport has been developed under the UDAN scheme in the last six years.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh said in a written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha on Monday. The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Regional Connectivity Scheme - UDAN on October 21, 2016, to ensure regional air connectivity and make air travel affordable to the masses.
As on January 31, 2023, as many as 73 unserved or under-served airports, including nine heliports and two water aerodromes have been operationalised since 2017, under the UDAN scheme.
UDAN is an ongoing scheme where bidding rounds are conducted from time to time for covering more destinations and stations and routes under the scheme.
Telangana has proposed the development of airports at Jakranpally (Nizamabad), Palvoncha (Bhadradri-Kothagudem), Mahbubnagar, Mamnoor, (Warangal), Basanth Nagar (Peddapalli) and Adilabad. However, none of them was identified for revival/upgradation under UDAN.
The UDAN scheme has been able to provide air connectivity to Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities at affordable airfares and has transformed the way people travel.
Even though Telangana has been waiting for five years, UDAN has not reached the State. The government has set a target to operationalise 1,000 UDAN routes by 2024. Earlier, the Centre approved a budget of Rs 4,500 crores for the revival of existing unserved/underserved airports/airstrips.