According to Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, India will invest Rs 30,000 crore to construct 100 new airports over the next ten years as part of the Center’s regional connectivity initiative UDAN.
On Tuesday, he opened the third “hub & spoke” operations in India from the airport in Ahmedabad. “We can proudly state that India has 166 airports on its map now, compared to 74 in 2014. The nation made a record by going from 74 to 166. We finished construction on a new airport or terminal about every 40 days over the past 12 years,” Naidu stated during the ceremony.
“For the Ministry of Civil Aviation, this 12-year adventure was just the beginning. Over the previous ten years, we have built upon the groundbreaking advances that the ‘UDAN’ plan brought to the air travel industry. In the future, we intend to construct 100 additional airports for about Rs 30,000 crore over the course of the next ten years,” he stated.
In March of this year, the Union Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the introduction and execution of the Regional Connectivity Scheme, also known as Modified UDAN, for ten years, from FY 2026–2027 to FY 2035–2036, with a total budgetary support of Rs 28,840 crore.
According to the Union minister, the country’s fastest-growing industry is civil aviation, and people now want an airport in their town rather than merely a train station or stop.
“And this demand is not limited to major cities — it comes from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, Himalayan regions, remote areas, and islands like Lakshadweep and Andaman. Everywhere, people are asking when an airport will be constructed in their area. This is the voice of modern India. We are listening to it, formulating policies accordingly, and moving forward,” he said.
Although India’s airport network is growing quickly, Naidu noted that the true problem is not in the development but rather in how well these airports are connected, both domestically and globally.
“When addressing the need for convenience, we recognized the immense potential of the ‘hub-and-spoke’ model,” he said.
According to Naidu’s explanation of the concept, foreign flights usually depart from large cities. Delhi, for example, has direct access to 54 locations.
“However, aspirations have grown; people now want international flights to start from existing airports and desire better domestic connectivity from airports that already handle international traffic. By integrating these needs, we initiated the hub-and-spoke model,” he said.
The minister observed that Varanasi and Amritsar responded quite favorably to the initiative.After starting operations in two places, Ahmedabad was the best option because the ministry was constantly getting requests for connectivity from this area and the NRI community from the city and Gujarat is dispersed throughout the world.
“I am confident that the figures we see here will surpass those of any other airport in the country operating on such a large-scale ‘hub-and-spoke’ model. We are moving forward with a focus on passenger convenience, and you will see the results of this transformation firsthand,” Naidu said.
“Its impact extends across various sectors, connecting a diverse range of people to the airport within a city. Advancing airports and aviation means advancing the entire nation – such is the power of our civil aviation sector,” he said, adding that Gujarat plays a pivotal role in the National Civil Aviation Policy.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi were also present at the event.
Also Read – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres To Attend BRICS Summit In Delhi