Stating that the country has effective international to domestic connectivity as well as domestic Tier-I to Tier-II connectivity, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said the Centre is now focusing on last-mile connectivity in the country through its UDAN 4.2 scheme.
“Certainly, the concentration has to be on last-mile connectivity…last-mile connectivity can only be given by small planes, less than 20-seater, by seaplanes and by helicopters,” he told Rajya Sabha. “With that in mind, our ministry has tweaked the UDAN scheme, (which) used to be for sub-90 seater planes. We have now introduced a new mechanism under UDAN, which is a small aircraft scheme dedicated to less than 20-seater aircraft.”
“Under the small aircraft scheme, which we have launched in UDAN 4.2, I am very pleased to inform the House that 132 routes have been awarded,” Scindia said. “Of these, 16 are helicopter routes, 50 are seaplane routes, and 66 are fixed wing routes.”
Scindia was responding to a question by BJP member G V L Narasimha Rao on the Udan scheme and promotion of tourism.
“Civil aviation is a deregulated sector,” he said. “It is completely incumbent upon the airlines to choose their routes. Certainly, through UDAN, we do offer airports that are…either under-served or not served.”
The minister said that increasing the number of routes depends on state governments reducing VAT on aviation turbine fuel (ATF). He said that 16 states have already lowered VAT on ATF, in addition to 12 states that charged only between 1% and 4% VAT. “So 28 states today charge VAT on ATF of only 1% to 4%, and there are only eight states left in the country that charge exorbitant VAT on ATF between 20% and 30%.”