Bhubaneswar: To enhance the connectivity in the remote and regional areas, the Centre has decided to include three airports in Odisha under UDAN (Ude desh ka aam nagrik)-4.
The three airports of the state to be included under the UDAN-4 are Jeypore (Koraput), Rourkela (Sundargarh) and Utkela (Kalahandi).
This was decided at a meeting between the Union Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola and the Chief Secretary of Odisha, Asit Tripathy in New Delhi on Friday.
Vir Surendra Sai (VSS) Airport in Jharsuguda is included under UDAN-3.
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 160 crore for the development of the airports at Jharsuguda, Jeypore, Utkela and Rourkela, taking the cumulative allocation to over Rs 1,200 crore for the development of airports and air connectivity in Odisha.
UDAN is a regional airport development and regional connectivity scheme (RCS) of the Centre with the objective of letting the common citizen of the country fly, aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread, to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development of all regions and states of India.
