Airport infrastructure key issue in govt's RCS & UDAN scheme: Ministry of Civil Aviation

The government of India has accorded approvals for setting up of two Greenfield Airports across India namely Jewar (2018) in Uttar Pradesh and Hollongi (2019) and in Arunachal Pradesh and launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik), the Minister of State for Civil Aviation V.K. Singh informed L. Hanumanthaiahin in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Ministry of Civil Aviation has been dedicated to stimulating regional air connectivity, he stated, according to a press release issued on July 28 by the civil aviation ministry.

59 airports, 2 water aerodromes, 5 heliports operationalized

An airport, included in the awarded routes of RCS – UDAN that requires up-gradation and development for commencement of RCS operations, has been developed under the “Revival of unserved and underserved airports” scheme, V.K. Singh stated. A total of 59 airports including 2 water aerodromes and 5 heliports have been revived and operationalized as of July 20, 2021. During the last five years, the Airports Authority of India has invested funding of approximately Rs. 17784 crore towards upgrading the airport infrastructure, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

Furthermore, it added, that AAI has also recently awarded six airports namely Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Guwahati in Assam, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and Mangaluru in Karnataka for the Operations, Management and Development under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for a period of 50 years. 

“AAI will get back their investment in these six airports to the tune of Rs. 2299 Cr as upfront payment, this will include the Per Passenger Fee, indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), from the PPP Partner,” civil aviation minister V.K. Singh said.

Further, he stressed, “Post PPP, the estimated net benefits accruing to AAI are more than the net benefits that  AAI would have got had it operated the six airports on its own.  AAI is not required to incur any CAPEX and OPEX at these airports during the lease period.” 

In an attempt to ramp up the domestic aircraft manufacturing landscape, the civil aviation ministry under the GOI has partnered with the acclaimed global aircraft and component manufacturers, to enhance the design, maintenance, manufacturing, and warehousing of the airports in India. Further in his response, the aviation minister said that the government has been encouraging the manufacturing of regional transport aircraft, trainer aircraft as well as equipment within the country.