Clouds Across Matrices

It’s aimed high. But will stronger regional air connectivity actually work?

- Arindam Mukherjee

The grid is set to become a lot busier. And countrywide at that. In the next few months, India’s aviation map will look a lot vibrant, thanks to a government endeavour. The new Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), or Udan, will bring smaller cities like Bikaner, Pantnagar, Kanpur, Agra and Pathankot on the Indian aviation network—not without doubts cast on its applicability and efficacy.

The RCS, which the government ann­ounced recently, seeks to bring in con­nectivity between tier II and III cities and also link them to major cities, including metros. A lot of questions are, however, being asked about the way the scheme has been designed and about the viability of the airlines in the scheme.

Under Udan (Ude desh ka aam nag­rik), the government has approved 27 proposals from five airlines to connect 43 airports on 128 routes countrywide.The five airlines selected are Alliance Air, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha Airways Pvt Ltd, which will run the TruJet Brand, Air Deccan and Air Odisha Aviation.

The RCS is expected to give a huge push to investments, tourism and job creation in the states and hitherto unto­uched areas. The government has high hopes from the scheme and expects it to be a game­changer. “The Udan network will cover the whole country, giving a major economic boost to hinterland areas,” says civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju.

The RCS was the cornerstone of the National Civil Aviation Policy announced in June last year. The government said the funding of the RCS cannot be done through the exchequer and hence money will have to be shored up from within the sector. There’s a small levy of around Rs 60 per passenger on the main routes that will fund the central government’s contribution towards viability gap funding (VGF) for the regional carriers.