India will build 100 new airports in the next 10 years under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme UDAN with an outlay of Rs 30,000 crore, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu has said.

He inaugurated India’s third ‘hub & spoke’ operations from Ahmedabad airport on Tuesday.

“While there were 74 airports in 2014, today we can proudly say that India’s map features 166 airports. Going from 74 to 166 set a record for the country. Over the last 12 years, we completed work on a new airport or a new terminal roughly every 40 days,” Naidu said at the event, PTI reported.

“This 12-year journey was merely the beginning for the Ministry of Civil Aviation. We have expanded upon the revolutionary changes brought to the air travel sector by the ‘UDAN’ scheme over the past decade. Looking ahead, we plan to spend approximately Rs 30,000 crore over the next 10 years to build 100 new airports,” he said.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in March this year approved the launch and implementation of the Regional Connectivity Scheme-Modified UDAN – for a period of 10 years from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36 with a total outlay of Rs 28,840 crore with the budgetary support of the Centre.

Naidu was here to inaugurate India’s third ‘hub & spoke’ operations from Ahmedabad airport, aimed at connecting passengers seamlessly to international destinations. The strategy is meant to transform the country into a global aviation hub by providing seamless international connectivity to passengers from across the country through Indian hub airports.

The Union minister said civil aviation is the fastest growing sector in the country, and the demand from the public is no longer just for a railway station or a train stop but for an airport in their own town.

“And this demand is not limited to major cities-it comes from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, Himalayan regions, remote areas, and islands like Lakshadweep and Andaman. Everywhere, people are asking when will an airport be constructed in their area. This is the voice of modern India. We are listening to it, formulating policies accordingly, and moving forward,” he said.

He said that while India is rapidly expanding its airport network, the real challenge lies not in the construction but how effectively these airports are connected-both domestically and internationally.

“When addressing the need for convenience, we recognised the immense potential of the ‘hub-and-spoke’ model,” he added.

Explaining the model, Naidu said that typically, international flights operate from major cities. For instance, Delhi offers direct connectivity to 54 destinations.

“However, aspirations have grown; people now want international flights to start from existing airports and desire better domestic connectivity from airports that already handle international traffic. By integrating these needs, we initiated the hub-and-spoke model,” he said.