UDAN

Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (Hindi for "Let the Common Citizens of the Country Fly"), known by its acronym UDAN-RCS ('Udan' is Hindi for "Flight") is a regional airport development programme of the Government of India and part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of upgrading under-serviced air routes. RCS scheme consists of setting up Greenfield airports and as well as upgradation of Brownfield airports. Its objective is to make air travel more accessible and contribute to economic development in India. At the beginning of the scheme, out of a total of 486 airports, 406 were under-serviced and only 27 were well-served; out of 97 non-RCS airports only 12 were operational. The UDAN scheme was created to add to this number by expediting the development and operationalization of India's potential target of nearly 425 unserved, under-served, and mostly underdeveloped regional airports with regularly scheduled flights. However, several issues and criticisms of its poor infrastructure, dominance by larger airlines, degradation of regional airlines, and slow implementation have plagued the scheme. In October 2023, India has 149 operational airports for civil aviation, including 30 international, 12 customs, 107 domestic, and few more civil aviation enclaves within military air bases. India is also planning to build the second airports in the big cities to decongest, 6 by 2030, 15 by 2040 and 30 plus by 2047. UDAN-RCS is integrated with other Government of India schemes, such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Parvatmala, Setu Bharatam, Dedicated Freight Corridors, Industrial corridor, BharatNet, Digital India and Make in India, National e-Governance Plan, Startup India and Standup India.