Govt Planning To Include Additional 21 Airports Under Krishi Udan Scheme, Says Civil Aviation Minister

Jyotiraditya Scindia said that Krishi Udan, a special flight meant for quick transportation of agricultural produce, has been a great success.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said that the Central Government is planning to include additional 21 airports under the Krishi Udan scheme as it has been a huge success.

Scindia while talking to the reporters about the second day deliberations of the first G20 Agriculture Deputies meeting held in Indore said, "At least 31 airports are under the Krishi Udan. We are speaking with MoD (Ministry of Defence) to include another 21 airports under Krishi Udan."

He said that the special flight, Krishi Udan, designed for the swift transportation of agricultural goods, had been a great success.

Citing instances, he said that fruits cultivated in the North East, such as lemons, jackfruit, and grapes, are sent not only to other regions of the country but even to other countries such as Germany, London, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Delegates will continue discussing four key priority areas on day two of the first meeting of the G20 Agriculture Deputies: food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture with a climate-smart approach, inclusive agriculture value-chain and food supply system, and digitisation of agriculture transformation.

The delegates will discuss the major outputs of the Agriculture Working Group on February 15, the final day of the conference.

Krishi Udan Scheme 2.0 was announced on 27 October 2021 enhancing the existing provisions, mainly focusing on transporting perishable food products from the hilly areas, North-Eastern States and tribal areas.

Krishi Udan Scheme is a convergence scheme where eight Ministries and Departments namely the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) would leverage their existing schemes to strengthen the logistics for transportation of Agri-produce.

The scheme assists farmers in transporting agricultural products so that it improves their value realisation. Krishi Udan scheme provides air transportation and logistics support for perishable agri-produce as per the need.