UDAN 3 Bidding Over; Airlines Keen On 10 Routes In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The process for the third round of bidding by airlines under the Government’s much vaunted UDAN scheme got over on Friday and out of the 111 routes airline opertors bid for, 10 were for routes in Odisha.

For Jeypore and Utkela, only one operator showed interest while the rest were for Jharsuguda and Rourkela.

In a late night tweet on Saturday, Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviaiton Ministry Usha Padhee said the financial bids will be opened on January 2 and the final awards will depend on the suitability of the airports and airlines. As per the schedule, the selected airline operator will be announced on January 7.

The government, in its quest to make flying more affordable for the masses, had in 2016 announced the Udan scheme wherein the fares were capped at Rs 2,500 for a one- hour journey for connecting smaller towns.

The scheme has not met with the desired success level as more than half the routes granted in the first round of bids, auctioned in early 2017, are yet to become operational.

Some of the routes on Odisha for which bidding was received in the initial round of UDAN phase 3 are as follows:

A. Bhubaneswar-Utkela (Kalahandi)
B. Bhubaneswar-Jeypore
C. Jharsuguda-Delhi
D. Jharsuguda-Hyderabad
E. Jharsuguda-Kolkata
F. Raipur-Jharsuguda
G. Bhubaneswar-Rourkela
H. Raipur-Rourkela
I. Bhubaneswar-Kalaikunda (West Bengal)
J. Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar