New Delhi: Not a single state government has responded to a communication sent out by Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju on the Regional Connectivity Scheme, where states' support is crucial for the scheme's takeoff. The ambitious RCS envisages getting remote areas of the country on the aviation map. It is at a proposal stage right now, as part of the Draft Civil Aviation Policy, which was unveiled earlier this month and is yet to be cleared by the cabinet.
A senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Firstpost Raju has written a letter to each chief minister, explaining the rationale of the RCS scheme and why state governments too need to offer incentives for getting enhanced air connectivity. "There has been no response as of now to the minister's communication," this official said. Another official said perhaps some state governments would be writing in by the month end, the deadline for public comments on the draft aviation policy.
States' disinterest in the scheme, at least till now, may not bode well for it. The RCS has already faced some criticism by India's airlines, which have questioned the fare cap suggested in the draft policy for these routes at Rs 2,500 per hour. For several years, the ministry has been trying to increase regional connectivity through different schemes - some years back, it offered viability gap funding (VGF) for airlines wanting to mount flights on these unviable routes but even then, many state governments seemed reluctant to offer additional fiscal incentives to airlines to make the entire proposition viable.
19/11/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post
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A senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Firstpost Raju has written a letter to each chief minister, explaining the rationale of the RCS scheme and why state governments too need to offer incentives for getting enhanced air connectivity. "There has been no response as of now to the minister's communication," this official said. Another official said perhaps some state governments would be writing in by the month end, the deadline for public comments on the draft aviation policy.
States' disinterest in the scheme, at least till now, may not bode well for it. The RCS has already faced some criticism by India's airlines, which have questioned the fare cap suggested in the draft policy for these routes at Rs 2,500 per hour. For several years, the ministry has been trying to increase regional connectivity through different schemes - some years back, it offered viability gap funding (VGF) for airlines wanting to mount flights on these unviable routes but even then, many state governments seemed reluctant to offer additional fiscal incentives to airlines to make the entire proposition viable.
19/11/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post
