The Centre has decided to include three more airports in the State under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik). The decision was taken at a meeting between Union Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola and State Chief Secretary AK Tripathy on Friday.
The Jeypore, Rourkela and Utkela airports would be included in the next round of UDAN scheme. There is an inbuilt subsidy support to the State Government along with Centre in this initiative, Tripathy said.
The Vir Surendra Sai (VSS) Airport at Jharsuguda was earlier included under UDAN. Earlier this year, commercial flight service was initiated from this airport to six cities of the country under the third phase of the UDAN scheme.
Official sources said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 160 crore for the development of the airports at Jharsuguda, Jeypore, Utkela and Rourkela.
