100 Airports In 10 Years: Can India Turn Its Aviation Ambition Into Reality?

India is setting itself a massive aviation target: 100 airports in the next 10 years under the Modified UDAN scheme. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu announced the plan on September 1, saying around ₹30,000 crore would be spent on expanding regional air connectivity.

The Cabinet-approved Modified UDAN scheme has a total outlay of ₹28,840 crore for 2026-27 to 2035-36. Importantly, the 100 airports are not all new greenfield airports. The government plans to develop existing unserved airstrips, with ₹12,159 crore earmarked for their development over eight years.

The arithmetic sounds straightforward: 100 airports in 10 years means an average of 10 airports every year. But that is only a mathematical average, not an official annual construction schedule. There is currently no public year-by-year roadmap showing which airport will be completed when.

A comparison with recent airport projects shows why execution matters. Bhogapuram airport in Andhra Pradesh, a large greenfield project, took roughly three years from the start of major construction to commercial operations in 2026. Its first phase alone involved an estimated ₹4,592 crore investment. By contrast, Pune’s new integrated termina l was an expansion project that took several years from commencement to inauguration. These projects cannot be directly compared with the smaller airstrip upgrades planned under Modified UDAN, but they show that airport development involves land, construction, clearances, equipment and operational readiness, not just laying a runway.

The government itself has recognised that construction is only half the challenge. Modified UDAN provides ₹10,043 crore in viability-gap funding for airlines and about ₹2,577 crore for three years of airport operations and maintenance, reflecting the difficulty of keeping regional airports financially viable.

The scale of the task is also significant because the target requires projects to overlap. If 100 airports were spread evenly across the decade, roughly 10 would need to be completed every year, meaning several dozen projects could have to be under development simultaneously.

India has already expanded from 74 airports in 2014 to around 165-166 today, showing that rapid growth is possible. But the next test is different: ensuring these airports have regular flights, passengers and sustainable routes.

The programme also does not mean 100 international airports. Most will strengthen domestic and regional connectivity, while international access will increasingly be built through hub-and-spoke networks.