The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to launch the third tender for route allocations under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik - UDAN) in September 2018.

"We are planning to invite bids for UDAN-3 in September and announce successful bidders by October," Minister Jayant Sinha told the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha, in a written response.

The new round will focus on underserved tourist destinations across India. As such, the Viability Gap Funding (VGF), or the difference between airfares legally capped at INR2,500 (USD36) per flight hour for half of the seats and the actual operational costs, will be covered by the Ministry of Tourism.

Airlines can also apply for route authorities under UDAN without the VGF. The other half of the seats on each flight can be sold at market rates.

While the exact list of destinations included in the bid will be announced in September, the government has tentatively identified 12 airports which include Gaya, Aurangabad, and Vidyanagar.

The Indian government awarded 630 routes in the first two rounds of UDAN allocations in April and December 2017.