At a stakeholder workshop in New Delhi on 17 July 2026, Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu unveiled the blueprint for ‘Modified UDAN’, the next phase of India’s flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme. Launched in 2016, UDAN (“Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik”) has subsidised fares on over 500 regional routes; the new version aims to double that network, focus on viability-gap funding for electric and hybrid aircraft, and tie airport incentives to employment generation. The workshop gathered state governments, airlines, airport operators and original-equipment manufacturers. Among headline announcements: a target to operationalise 100 additional unserved airstrips by 2030; slot-swap arrangements that allow regional carriers to trade unused metro slots for tier-2 routes; and a 25 per cent reduction in airport charges for flights using sustainable aviation fuel blends. For global mobility teams, the bigger prize is improved connectivity for secondary manufacturing hubs such as Jharsuguda, Keshod and Nanded—locations that currently require lengthy surface travel for expatriate engineers. The Ministry of Civil Aviation estimates that Modified UDAN could cut average door-to-door time for 300 million Indians by up to four hours. Implementation details, including the first round of bidding, will be released in August. Corporations planning new plants or back-office centres in tier-3 cities should map future routes now to leverage cost savings when the scheme goes live in early 2027.
Source: India Gazette / ANI
