Inter-ministerial panel set up by govt to monitor UDAN

An inter-ministerial committee has been set up by the government to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports.     

The panel would also be responsible for coordinating among stakeholders, including state governments, for "timebound" implementation of the scheme.     

The Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded 128 routes connecting 70 airports to five airlines, including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary, under the scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik).     

Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary, the 'Inter-Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee' would have representations from the ministries of finance, defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas, as per a notification.     

Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman, representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) apart from officials of airlines and states concerned would also be part of the panel.     

If required, the panel's chairperson can co-opt any officer or expert, according to the notification issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The committee would be responsible for "overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regionalconnectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-servedairports/airstrips and RCS-UDAN", it added.     

In the flights operated under RCS, around 50 per cent ofthe seats would have a fare cap Rs 2,500 per seat/hour. Apart from various incentives, the operators of suchflights would be extended viability gap funding -- for whichmoney is partly raised through a levy of up to Rs 8,500 onflights operating in major routes like Delhi and Mumbai.     

The viability gap funding would be in place for threeyears for the airlines concerned from the date of startingoperations in a particular UDAN route. Other benefits include zero airport charges for theoperators and three-year exclusivity on the routes.