Puducherry joins regional connectivity scheme

The government on Friday announced that Puducherry has joined the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation, State Government of Puducherry and Airports Authority of India today signed a tri-partite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the RCS thereby initiating the collaborative partnership," a statement by the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

"With today's development, the state government of Puducherry has formally agreed to provide the concessions required from the state governments in the RCS."

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha hoped the subsidies would attract airlines which also needed to find the appropriate aircrafts and pilots to service the regional sector.

Chief Minister of Puducherry V. Narayanasamy said he was happy to cooperate in promoting the RCS as it would improve the connectivity to Puducherry.

The RCS is a key component of the recently passed National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), whose main objective is to "enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development".

The draft policy intends to grow regional connectivity via several measures such as incentives, capping of air fares for a limited number of seats and revival of existing air strips and airports.

The passenger fares under the RCS have been proposed to be capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying of approximately 500 km.

The scheme is envisaged to be applicable on route length between 200 to 800 km.

--IANS

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