Civil Aviation Minister launches Krishi UDAN 2.0

The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched “Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme” on October 27, 2021.

Key Points

• Under “Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme”, cargo-related infrastructure will be built in airports of hilly, tribal, and north-east regions.
• Such infrastructure will help in assisting farmers to transport agriculture products.

Krishi Udan Scheme

Central government had launched Krishi Udan scheme in September 2020. Under the scheme, airport charges like parking charges & terminal navigational landing charges were waived off. Charges were waived off if the agricultural cargo is more than 50 per cent of the total chargeable weight carried.

Krishi Udan 2.0

Under Krishi Udan 2.0, central government has planned for granting full waiver of airport charges at select airports. Waiver would be given even if agricultural cargo is lower than 50 per cent of total chargeable weight carried. Centre will also facilitate the development of hub and spoke model across India. Government will also create cargo terminals at the airports in phase-wise manner. Moreover, government will encourage states to reduce sales tax to one per cent on aviation turbine fuel, which is used in freighter aircraft and passenger aircraft for transporting cargo.

Cargo terminals

• Under the scheme, cargo terminals will be established at the airports in Agartala, Dibrugarh, Srinagar, Hubbali, Dimapur, Jorhat, Imphal, Silchar, Lilabari, Lucknow, Tirupati, Tezpur, Tirupati and Tuticorin by 2022.
• In between 2022-23, cargo terminals will be established at airports in Ahmedabad, Jharsuguda, Bhavnagar, Mysore, Kozhikode, Rajkot, Puducherry, and Vijayawada.

Aim of the scheme

The scheme has been launched with the aim of channelising the immense potential of Indian agriculture with logistical help of civil aviation in a bid to achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income. It will also help in alleviating wastage of farm produce and increase its value.

e-Kushal platform

This online platform would be developed under Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme for facilitating information dissemination to stakeholders with respect to transportation of agriculture produce.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2021