Nearly two-and-a-half years after Maharashtra signed up for UDAN, only two routes are operational.
Mumbai: Speaking in Solapur last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned his government’s work on the UDAN scheme, which seeks to establish regional air connectivity, among several other Union development projects.
While Modi projected UDAN as a big success in the state, in reality only two routes connecting two regional airports in Maharashtra are currently operational despite the passage of nearly two-and-a-half years since the state signed up for the scheme to develop and connect 10 regional airports.
Four other routes, which were earlier operational, were cancelled late last year due to poor performance.
A Nanded-Mumbai flight operated by TruJet and a Nashik-Delhi one operated by Jet Airways are the only two operational routes currently.
Moreover, at least four of the 10 airports chosen under the scheme are yet to be made operational for regional flights.
“On paper the scheme is doing very well in Maharashtra because the two routes that are operational have significant occupancy and have carried more than 1.25 lakh passengers until now. But the reality remains that we have not been able to connect most regional centres,” said a senior Maharashtra government official who did not wish to be named.
The official added that the state government is also incurring a large expenditure for the scheme by paying 20 per cent of the viability gap funding to operators, giving 50 per cent exemptions in electricity and water charges, providing for fire and security services, among other expenses.
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UDAN routes and airports in Maharashtra
In August 2016, Maharashtra became the first state to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India to develop 10 airports under the regional connectivity scheme.
These were Nanded, Nashik, Kolhapur, Solapur, Jalgaon, Gondia, Amravati, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Shirdi.
Shirdi was later pulled out of the scheme, but has been functional since 1 October 2017 and is thriving, according to state government officials.
Among the other airports, work is still underway at Amravati to make it operational under the scheme though the airport currently caters to chartered flights. State officials said the government is looking for place for a civil terminal at the Ratnagiri airport, while the Sindhudurg airport is waiting for a civil aviation licence to operate.
In Solapur, a 90-metre chimney of a sugar factory, which is obstructing takeoffs and landings at the airport, has held up operationalising the airport under the UDAN scheme. While Modi promised people in Solapur that they will also be connected to the regional air connectivity soon, the conflict is currently under litigation.
Besides the TruJet and Jet Airways routes that are operational, Maharashtra had four more routes under the scheme until recently, run by Air Deccan, launched as India’s first low-cost carrier.
However, the Ministry of Civil Aviation recently terminated the contract due to complaints over poor performance.
The airline used to operate flights on routes such as Mumbai-Nashik, Nashik-Pune, Jalgaon-Mumbai and Jalgaon-Kolhapur.
The state government official said, “A single aircraft was being used to play all these rounds, and as a result there were a lot of inconsistencies, delays, cancellations.”
“There was a lot of hue and cry from the people, and so we asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to either pull up the carrier or terminate the contract. The contract was ultimately terminated,” said the official.
Plans for the scheme
Several Maharashtra routes, which were part of the bidding process for the first phase of UDAN in April 2017, have now been included in the third phase of the scheme. The Union government is likely to announce the final allotments soon.
Meanwhile, the state government has sent a proposal to the Union government suggesting measures to further incentivise the scheme by getting the government to underwrite a few seats.
These include allowing more government officials to take flights when they travel for work by relaxing the grade beyond which officials are allowed to travel by flights.
The state government has also suggested allowing reimbursement for air travel on UDAN routes under the ‘leave travel component’ of employees’ salaries. Currently, the government only reimburses train travel under the component.
The print should first fact check official reports because, Kolhapur- Mumbai route was operational not Jalgaon-Kolhapur. Also, Kolhapur-Bengaluru and Kolhapur-Hyderabad routes are operational. The Print should report precise and accurate news.
More than twenty years ago, the SS – BJP government had plans for an airport in each of the state’s thirty districts. These things are decided by passenger traffic, not executive fiat.