India is planning to develop 100 new airports over the next 10 years under the modified regional connectivity scheme UDAN, with Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu putting the investment involved at around ₹30,000 crore.
The expansion is part of the government’s plan to take air connectivity beyond the major cities and reach more tier-2 and tier-3 centres, remote and hilly regions, islands and other areas that remain underserved by the existing aviation network.
The Union Cabinet had approved the Modified UDAN scheme in March this year for a 10-year period from FY2026-27 to FY2035-36. The scheme has an overall outlay of ₹28,840 crore through government budgetary support. Of this, ₹12,159 crore has been earmarked for the development of 100 airports from existing unserved airstrips over the next eight years.
The government is also looking to strengthen last-mile connectivity through the development of 200 modern helipads in hilly, remote, island and aspirational regions. The scheme includes support for the operation and maintenance of regional aerodromes as well as viability gap funding for airlines operating routes where commercial operations may initially not be viable.
Naidu said the expansion of airport infrastructure needs to be accompanied by better connectivity between cities and regions. The government is therefore working on a hub-and-spoke model under which airports in cities such as Varanasi and Amritsar are being linked with larger aviation hubs. Ahmedabad has also been brought into this network, making it the third airport to be integrated into the model.
The minister said the country had 74 airports in 2014, a number that has since increased to 166. According to him, over the last 12 years, India has added a new airport or terminal roughly every 40 days.
The next phase of airport development is expected to focus particularly on areas where improved air connectivity can support tourism, trade and access to essential services. The Modified UDAN scheme is also aimed at improving emergency response and healthcare access in remote and difficult-to-reach regions.
The original UDAN scheme was launched in 2016 to make air travel more affordable and improve connectivity to smaller cities. By February 2026, 663 routes had been operationalised across 95 airports, heliports and water aerodromes, with more than 3.41 lakh flights carrying around 1.62 crore passengers. The government subsequently expanded the programme through Modified UDAN to create a larger and more sustainable regional aviation network.