Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha stated that an amount of Rs 268.10 crore has been collected as levy from various airlines towards the regional air connectivity scheme or UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) till August 3, 2018. He also said that all scheduled airline operators have been remitting the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) levy.
Sinha noted that the scheme seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying more affordable for the people. To fund the scheme, he said an amount of Rs 5,000 is collected from airlines on every flight operated on major routes. He also said that no revenue has been earned by the Regional Air Connectivity Fund Trust (RACFT) under the scheme except for deposits of RCS levy.
The minister further stated that the Tourism Ministry has requested for introduction of ‘cities/ towns/ places of tourist importance’ under the scheme. He also said that many routes awarded under UDAN are already operational. He added that Deccan Air and Air Odisha stopped their services in four sectors due to technical snag and slot allocation issues.