Concern over ‘poor’ allocation for aviation

NEW DELHI:A parliament panel has expressed concern over the “inadequate” budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Civil Aviation.The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, in its report on the ministry’s Demand for Grants tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, said it will be difficult for the ministry to run existing schemes like UDAN and other activities. It urged the ministry to “actively pursue” the matter with the Finance Ministry to get more funds.

In the Union Budget, the ministry has been allocated Rs 6,602.86 crore that includes Rs 4,469.50 crore towards purchase of two new aircraft for VVIP flights. After deduction of the amount for VVIP flights, the allocation would be only Rs 2,133.36 crore, which is lower than the revised estimate of Rs 2,710.30 crore.
Among the schemes being run by the civil aviation ministry, the most prominent is the Regional Connectivity Scheme or UDAN, under which the government aims to provide connectivity to under-served and unserved areas.

The committee also referred to the reply of Ministry of Civil Aviation which stated that the Finance Ministry had not provided any reason for less allocation vis-a-vis the projections.  “Keeping in view the great surge in the civil aviation sector”, the committee said “lack of sufficient funds should not be reason for inadequate allocation... for the vital projects”.