Process on to add 21 more airports under Krishi Udan scheme, says Scindia
Indore: Buoyed by the success of the Krishi Udan Scheme, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to add 21 more airports under the flagship scheme, which was launched to facilitate the seamless movement of agricultural produce in remote locations of the north-eastern region, hilly and tribal areas of the country.
While asserting that the government is committed towards the welfare of farmers, Union minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday that at least 31 airports are under the Krishi Udan.
“We are in discussion with the Defence minister for adding 21 more airports under the scheme. We are hopeful that the decision in this regard would be announced soon,” he said while briefing about the second day of deliberations of the first G20 Agriculture Deputies Meeting, which was inaugurated by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Hailing the scheme, Scindia said farmers are being benefitted as the Krishi Udan scheme is playing a key role in enhancing their income as fruits such as lemons, jackfruits and grapes from north-eastern states are being transported domestically as well as to international countries, including Germany, London, Singapore and the Philippines.
Notably, the Krishi Udan Scheme 2.0 was launched in October 2021 to promote the transportation of perishable agricultural produce from the north-eastern region, hilly and tribal regions. As per the scheme, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) provides a waiver of landing, parking charge, terminal navigation landing charges and route navigation facility charges for the freight and passenger to cargo aircraft.
Explaining the importance of the usage of drones in different sectors, including agriculture, the Union minister said: “The usage of drones should not be seen with the perspective of spraying pesticides to seeding as the applicability of drones will continue to increase in the areas of health, research, surveys, etc.”
According to a senior official of the agriculture ministry, the government has approved a few drone manufacturing companies to operate in the country to make them available at affordable prices to the farmers.
In August 2021, the Civil Aviation ministry had notified the drone rule to provide necessary regulatory framework for its commercial use. The government further liberalised the scope of drone rules by introducing the PLI scheme for boosting drone manufacturing by private companies. PLI provides an incentive of Rs 120 crore over three financial years. Currently, the cost of each drone is around Rs 7 to Rs 8 lakh.
