Politics · India Bureau
India to construct 100 new airports under regional connectivity push
India's Civil Aviation Ministry plans to invest Rs 30,000 crore to build 100 new airports over the next decade, leveraging its successful UDAN regional connectivity scheme. The expansion marks the next phase of rapid airport infrastructure development that has transformed air travel access across the country.
LSN India ·
India will construct 100 new airports within the next 10 years as part of an ambitious infrastructure programme backed by Rs 30,000 crore in investment, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu announced on Tuesday. The expansion will be driven through the UDAN scheme, the government's flagship regional connectivity initiative that has reshaped air transport across the nation.
Naidu made the announcement while inaugurating the country's third 'hub and spoke' operations centre at Ahmedabad airport. The minister highlighted the dramatic expansion of airport infrastructure over the past 12 years, noting that India increased its airport network from 74 facilities in 2014 to 166 today—an unprecedented pace of development that has seen a new airport or terminal commissioned roughly every 40 days.
The UDAN scheme, launched over a decade ago, has been instrumental in improving air connectivity to underserved regions and smaller cities. The fresh investment commitment signals the government's continued focus on democratising air travel and reducing regional disparities in transportation infrastructure. The new airports are expected to further boost domestic aviation, economic development in peripheral areas, and employment generation across multiple regions.