In the world of politics, CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) reports are much feared for it is one of these which showed a huge loss to the exchequer in what then came to be known as the 2G scam. The CAG report on RCS-UDAN already saw potshots on social media from opposition and counter from the ruling party including the Hon. Minister.
A glimpse at the observations as reported by the media shows that these are mere findings and CAG has done a good job at calculating those numbers. The list released by Airports Authority of India with routes which started has over 400 routes, including those which did not run its full course like the one between Ahmedabad water front and Kevadiya. It was long overdue that someone comes out with data around the routes started and those which completed the three year exclusivity (and/or subsidy) period.
As someone who has treaded the thin line between supporting or opposing blindly, let me share the good parts. Had it not been for RCS-UDAN, airports at 15 to 20 places would not have been operational. The North East connectivity has grown by leaps and bounds and even the mandatory Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) had not achieved as much connectivity. While many airports and routes are inaugurated before elections, the fewer number of seats in North East and its limited impact in number driven electoral politics would have typically meant ignorance but that has not been the case.
Some airports have been nothing short of finding a gem, like Darbhanga – which has been one of the few airports where non UDAN routes started in a jiffy and the UDAN route saw augmentation in capacity albeit without subsidy.
At the same time, I always have the pet peeve about routes where subsidy wasn’t needed like the one between Hubli and Goa which is a road distance of mere 150 kms. The route is one of many which did not continue beyond the exclusivity and subsidy period.
Routes and airlines fail, worldover. The scheme does have intentions to help build a market so that airlines can sustain beyond the three year exclusivity period but that has not been achieved for most routes. The first phase saw the failure of Air Deccan, Air Odisha, Zoom Air – which probably wanted to ride the UDAN wave but could not make it happen. The fall of TruJet saw quite a large number of airports and routes being vacated almost overnight. Can the policymakers be blamed for this? Probably not because then they would also need to be credited for the expansion of Star Air and course correction of flybig – both leading to relatively stable operations under UDAN.
Can the scheme be made robust? Yes, nothing stops the policy makers from creating a rule where the next round of bidding will see lesser routes on offer to those airlines which haven’t performed well in the previous rounds. The scheme has a tenure of 10 years but it could go on longer subject to who is in power in May next year!
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