Centre to Seal All UDAN MoUs in Three Weeks, Says Aviation Minister Naidu
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu says the Centre will finalise UDAN agreements with all states within two to three weeks, with West Bengal signing on September 28.
The Union government expects to conclude agreements with every state for the next phase of the UDAN regional connectivity scheme within two to three weeks, Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after an MoU signing ceremony for the upcoming phase, Naidu said 21 states have already signed pacts with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and West Bengal is scheduled to come on board on September 28.
"On the 28th we have the MoU signing with West Bengal also, and the other states are just trying to finalize the MoU document so very soon, probably in two to three weeks, we are going to close all the MoUs," he said.
A decade of regional flights
The scheme has completed ten years and has now been extended for another decade. Naidu described it as a revolutionary initiative that has driven regional connectivity across the country, noting that the earlier phase helped operationalise more than 90 airports and brought subsidised air travel to roughly 1.54 crore passengers.
Under the renewed framework, the government plans to deploy close to Rs 30,000 crore over the next ten years, a figure that could double with contributions from states and other stakeholders. The projected economic impact of the scheme is estimated at up to Rs 60,000 crore.
Faster airport construction
Drawing on lessons from the first phase, the ministry has introduced a challenge model for airport construction. Instead of taking up all airports at once, the most important projects will be selected through this route to speed up execution, with completion targeted at 18 months from the start of work, down from an average gestation period of about three years.
Naidu also outlined fleet expansion ambitions, saying at least five domestic carriers should each operate a minimum of 100 aircraft to keep pace with passenger demand and support long-term goals tied to Viksit Bharat 2047, which envisions more than 350 operational airports.
SpiceJet under regulatory watch
On SpiceJet, the minister said the airline remains under active scrutiny by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, covering both operational and, to some extent, financial aspects, with passenger safety as the priority.
"The immediate activity in the ministry regarding SpiceJet is that we have operational and both to a certain extent financial scrutiny also being done from the ministry through the DGCA because we don't want safety to be at any... any lapse in safety shouldn't be there," he said.
He noted that the government had earlier extended support to the carrier through the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme during difficult industry conditions, including headwinds from the West Asia crisis, with Rs 150 crore disbursed. Naidu said SpiceJet and its lenders must settle the remaining financial arrangements, while the ministry's focus stays on preventing any compromise in safety or disruption to travel.