Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi reviewed the progress of UDAN scheme for regional air connectivity in the State on Wednesday.
Padhi directed to complete the first phase works in Jharsuguda airstrip and make it ready for flight by September 1. Padhi further directed to expedite the preparatory works in other air strips for making them flight-fit.
Five airstrips in Odisha have been selected for inclusion in the UDAN scheme. From among these, the Biju Patnaik International Air Port, Bhubaneswar, will work as the mentor airport. The other four airstrips are located at Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Utkela ( Kalahandi) and Jeypore ( Koraput). A State level Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary involving Home, Police, AAI, representatives from regional connectivity airlines, and oil companies for ensuring effective implementation of the scheme. Pertinently, a MOU on RCS-UDAN was signed among the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Government of Odisha and the Airports Authority of India in March.
For the facilitating the regional connectivity during initial periods, the State Government has decided to reduce VAT from 5 per cent to 1 per cent and provide 20 per cent of the Viable Gap Fund. The State Government would also provide land, security and fire services free of cost. The electricity and water would also be provided at minimum rate.
The routes like Bhubaneswar to Utkela, Utklela to Raipur, Bhubaneswar to Jeypore, Bhubaneswar to Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda to Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar to Rourkela were suggested for regional connectivity.
The State Government has decided to provide these subsidies and financial assistance to kick up the flight operations and to keep the passenger fares at affordable level. As per initial calculations, the average price of a subsidized ticket to be paid by the passengers for these flights would be around Rs 2,500.