Pariksha SaathiUDAN completes ten years: 687 routes, 95 aerodromes, 1.72 crore passengers; next phase to 2035-36 with Rs 28,840 crore outlay
A PIB backgrounder of 20 October 2026 marks ten years of the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), launched on 21 October 2016 in line with the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016. The first RCS-UDAN flight, Shimla to Delhi, was inaugurated in April 2017; since then the scheme has operationalised 687 regional routes and 95 aerodromes, including 17 heliports and 02 water aerodromes, operated more than 3.68 lakh flights and carried 1.72 crore passengers, with Rs 5091.23 crore disbursed as Viability Gap Funding as of 15 October 2026. In the North-East, 90 priority routes have been operationalised, and 12 of the 52 aerodromes identified in the region. India's operational airports have risen from 74 in 2014 to 166, and India is now the world's third-largest domestic aviation market. The next phase of UDAN, launched on 4 July 2026, runs for ten years from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36 with an outlay of Rs 28,840 crore, including Rs 12,159 crore to develop 100 airports from unserved airstrips, 200 modern helipads, three years of operation and maintenance support for about 441 aerodromes, Rs 10,043 crore of Viability Gap Funding for airlines and Rs 400 crore for two HAL Dhruv helicopters for Pawan Hans and two HAL Dornier aircraft for Alliance Air.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
When the first UDAN flight, on the Shimla–Delhi sector, was flagged off on 27 April 2017, along with inaugural flights on Kadapa–Hyderabad and Nanded–Hyderabad, the Ministry of Civil Aviation set out the scheme's key terms: the airfare for a one-hour journey of about 500 km on a fixed-wing aircraft, or a 30-minute journey on a helicopter, would be capped at Rs 2,500; the selected airline would offer 50% of a fixed-wing flight's capacity (at least 9 and at most 40 seats) as RCS seats; and it would get three years' exclusivity of operations. UDAN is a key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy, released on 15 June 2016.
Reference: PIB release of 26 April 2017 on the first UDAN flight
Check yourself: how many of the aerodromes identified in the North-Eastern region have been operationalised under UDAN?
12 of the 52 identified, which include heliports and water aerodromes.
Revision task: from this backgrounder, note the decade's route, aerodrome, flight and passenger figures and the next phase's outlay and components, and keep them apart from the 2017 scheme terms above.
Test yourself
According to the PIB backgrounder of 20 October 2026, what is the total outlay of the next phase of UDAN, launched on 4 July 2026?
Show the answer
Answer: Rs 28,840 crore
The next phase of UDAN will be implemented over ten years, from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36, with a total outlay of Rs 28,840 crore.
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