'UDAN' failed on 93 percent routes: Congress cites CAG report to slam PM Modi's promises

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that a Comptroller and Auditor General report had revealed that the Centre's UDAN scheme was a failure on 93 per cent of routes, and accused the government of delivering 'lies' and empty promises to the public. Launched on October 21, 2016, the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) initiative aimed to boost regional air connectivity and affordable travel in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

A recent CAG report presented during the Monsoon Session revealed that out of 371 initiated routes, only 30% (112 routes) completed the full three-year concession period. Among these, merely 54 routes connecting 17 RCS airports could sustain operations beyond the concession period, as of March 2023. The report also highlighted substantial delays in the development or revamp of RCS airports, despite budgetary support sanctioned in March 2017.

Kharge criticized the government's unfulfilled promise of enabling air travel for the economically disadvantaged. This remark was in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's prior statement about affordable airfares for the Shimla-Delhi route. To recall, PM Modi had expressed his aspiration to witness 'Hawai Chappal-wearing common citizens should be able to travel in Hawai Jahaj', emphasizing the swift growth of India's aviation sector. The Congress president stressed that the CAG report substantiated their claims of the scheme's inefficiency and lack of independent airline audits. He urged accountability for the alleged failures and mismanagement, stating that the government's rhetoric fell short of practical outcomes. Kharge's comments aligned with the Congress party's broader allegations of irregularities and "scams" within the BJP-led government's infrastructure projects, calling for an investigation and the Prime Minister's response.

The CAG report included 16 recommendations aimed at improving the scheme's future implementation.

One of the recommendations involved establishing an effective mechanism to evaluate route feasibility for sustainable, long-term operations. This process would also involve identifying airports that are underserved or unserved, considering factors like stage length, terrain, alternative transportation options, socioeconomic conditions, and tourism potential.

The report highlighted that the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India had not undertaken an exercise to identify eligible heliports. Heliports, often chosen based on operator proposals, either remained underutilized, unutilized or saw discontinued RCS operations.

In terms of the Regional Air Connectivity Fund (RCF) levy collection and remittance mechanism, the audit report criticized the lack of clear rules. It recommended the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to ensure that collected RCF levies do not exceed the government's remittance amount or become an airline profit source.

The report also observed delays in dues remittance by airlines and proposed penalties for such delays in line with the Draft Standard Operating Procedure.

To enhance transparency, the auditor general urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to reconcile viability gap funding (VGF) claims based on flight data available with airport operators, instead of relying on self-certification. Furthermore, the MoCA was advised to revamp the seat booking system for flights under the UDAN scheme. The CAG emphasized the need to ensure that airlines adhere to the stipulated airfare cap while booking seats on RCS routes.