With the Indian government making plans to extend the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme to international flights as well, buoyed by the success of the domestic regional air connectivity scheme, flying to a few international destinations is slated to get cheaper. Addressing media at at the four-day international aviation summit Wings yesterday, the aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said that if the state governments want to start flights to international destinations, the central government will provide a platform.  The civil aviation secretary pointed out that the government’s biggest challenge in the rapidly expanding Indian aviation market, is offering airport infrastructure quickly. We take a closer look at Udan 2.0.

Scheme to provide subsidy for international flights

Rajiv Narayan Choubey said that  UDAN Version 2.0 will allow the state governments to provide subsidy for international flights to be launched from their states. “UDAN has now become a platform where we have the expertise and the capability,” the aviation secretary said adding that if the state governments want to start flights to international destinations, the central government will provide a platform.

Assam to contribute Rs 300 crore

Interestingly, while other states are yet to show interest in the scheme, the Assam government is slated to invest Rs 100 crore a year, for three years, (totalling up to Rs 300 crore) to start flights from Guwahati to South East destinations, aviation secretary Rajiv Narayan said adding that the central government will only facilitate the bidding process for in the UDAN International scheme.

Capex of Rs 18,000 crore in 4 years

In his address, Rajiv Narayan Choubey said that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has a capex plan of Rs 18,000 crore to be spent over next four years for airport expansion. Notably, the government is looking to make very fundamental changes in the way airports are bid out and also in the way concession agreements are structured with investors. Further, the government is also looking to  relax the land usage rules for outside the the airports. “There is a limit to how many hotels you can build outside the airport only for passengers. There is a need to relax that,” he added.