Govt won’t open financial bids of Air Deccan and Air Odisha at UDAN 3 auction

New Delhi: The government will not open financial bids put forward by Air Odisha and Air Deccan for eight routes that are being auctioned under the third phase of the UDAN scheme for the time being, an official said, adding that six out of nine networks that had been awarded to the two airlines in the first round of the auctions under the scheme have been cancelled by the ministry for "non-performance" or "poor performance."

The six networks consisted of 16 flights of Air Deccan and 40 flights of Air Odisha, and they were cancelled for "non-commencement of RCS flights."

UDAN is a subsidised low-fare initiative announced last year to give impetus to air connectivity to India's hinterland.

"We have decided that at present, we would not open the financial bids for Air Deccan and Air Odisha. We will go ahead as it is not a valid proposal. The final decision regarding this would be taken at the highest level only," a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official said.

"As they have come for bidding (for UDAN-3), if we have to eliminate them, we have to follow the due process," he added.

"We have to open technical bids because without opening them, we would not know who the bidders are. When we opened the technical bids, we came to know that there are five proposals from Air Odisha and three from GSEC Monarch and Deccan Aviation Private Limited," the official said.