Ministry of Civil Aviation launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on 21-10-2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses. UDAN is a self-financing scheme. Under UDAN, 469 routes connecting 74 unserved and underserved airports including 9 Heliports & 2 Water aerodromes have been operationalized as on 28.02.2023.
Promoting affordability of regional air connectivity is envisioned under UDAN by supporting Selected Airline Operators (SAOs) through concessions by Central Government, State Governments/UTs and airport operators to reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes and providing financial (Viability Gap Funding or VGF) support to meet the gap, if any, between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such UDAN routes.