The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday launched Krishi Udan 2.0 scheme under which cargo-related infrastructure will be built in airports of north-east, hilly and tribal regions to assist farmers in transporting agriculture products.
The Krishi Udan scheme, launched by the Centre in September 2020, waived airport charges such as parking charges and terminal navigational landing charges on select Indian airports for air cargo operators if the agricultural cargo is over 50 per cent of the total chargeable weight carried.
The Centre, under Krishi Udan 2.0, has stated that full waiver of airport charges would be granted at select airports even if the agricultural cargo is less than 50 per cent of the total chargeable weight carried.
Under Krishi Udan 2.0, the Centre said it will facilitate the development of hub and spoke model in India and create cargo terminals at the airports in a phase-wise manner.
For example, cargo terminals will be established at the airports in Agartala, Srinagar, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Hubbali, Imphal, Jorhat, Lilabari, Lucknow, Silchar, Tezpur, Tirupati and Tuticorin within 2021-22.
In 2022-23, the cargo terminals will be established at airports in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Jharsuguda, Kozhikode, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajkot and Vijayawada to assist transportation of agriculture produce, the Centre mentioned.
Moreover, under Krishi Udan 2.0, the government would also encourage states to reduce sales tax to one per cent on aviation turbine fuel that is used in freighter aircraft and passenger aircraft that are being used to just transport cargo.
Various government departments and regulatory bodies, under the newly launched scheme, will collaborate with the civil aviation ministry to provide freight forwarders, airlines and other stakeholders with incentives and concessions to carry more agriculture products.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, while launching Krishi Udan 2.0 in the national capital, said that the scheme aims to channelise the immense potential of Indian agriculture with the logistical help of civil aviation towards the goal of doubling farmers'' income and making them self-reliant.
"The comprehensive policy programme will also help alleviate wastage of farm produce, increase value of farm produce and link them to global markets, thereby making Indian agriculture more sustainable and profitable," he mentioned.
Under Krishi Udan 2.0, an online platform called e-Kushal would be developed to facilitate information dissemination to all stakeholders regarding transportation of agriculture produce.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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