The ambitious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) is set to complete a decade of operationalisation soon. Today, the government released data in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament which shows that 923 routes were awarded under RCS-UDAN until October 2025, of which only 651 were operationalised but 123 could not complete their exclusive three year term. This was part of Unstarred question 834 which was answered on December 08, 2025.
As of today, fourteen airports are non-operational under the UDAN scheme and these include factors such as completion of the concession period, visibility conditions or other restrictions.
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra – most awarded
Of the 923 routes awarded, 96 were awarded to Uttar Pradesh, 81 to Uttarakhand and 75 to Maharashtra. While Uttar Pradesh saw 57 routes (59%) starting, Uttarakhand saw 60 routes (74%) starting while Maharashtra saw 65 routes (87%) starting. However, in Uttar Pradesh 20 routes ended before the three year concession period, while the number stood at 16 and 4 in Maharashtra, translating to 35% in Uttar Pradesh, 27% in Uttarakhand and just 6% in Maharashtra.
Both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have been hit by the issues with flybig, now grounded. The airline had bagged multiple routes across both states and failed to operate. In Uttar Pradesh, most routes were connected to Lucknow which saw closure of the runway for recarpeting leaving little room to operate.
The best and the worst
Puducherry (1 route), Telangana (30 routes), Madhya Pradesh (28 routes), Karnataka (71 routes) and Chattisgarh (14 routes) have the record of starting maximum routes which were awarded, with the percentage being above 90% for these six states. Karnataka and Chattisgarh are tied at 93%, while Puducherry is at 100% owing to its single route being operationalised.
Andaman & Nicobar (6 routes), but none operationalised, Lakshadweep (18 routes, only one operationalised), Mizoram (11 routes, two operationalised), Nagaland (11 routes, 4 operationalised) and Jharkhand (12 routes, five operationalised) are the worst in terms of routes which were awarded and operationalised.
Early terminations
Haryana leads the list in early terminations where four routes were awarded, three started but two were terminated within three years (67%). This is followed by Jharkhand, where 60% of the routes which started were terminated before the completion of three years and Jammu & Kashmir where half the routes were terminated within three years of starting. Puducherry, Kerala, Goa, Chandigarh, Dadar&NagarHaveli and Daman&Diu, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Lakshadweep are the places where the routes which started have not ended before three years.
Reasons for discontinuation
The government has cited the pandemic, aircraft shortage, supply chain issues, airport / runway maintenance along with low passenger demand on some routes as reasons for cancellation of routes within the three year period.
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