New Delhi, The Ministry of Civil Aviation has formally declined to develop or reactivate an airport in Bihar’s Jamui district, stating that no scheduled airline has expressed commercial interest in operating services there under the government’s flagship UDAN regional connectivity scheme.
In a written reply tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu informed Parliament that neither the Bihar state government nor any private carrier had submitted a viable demand-assessed proposal for Jamui. “No airstrip in Jamui is currently operational, nor has the state government indicated inclusion of any airstrip in the district under the UDAN scheme,” the minister stated.
Jamui, a historically Naxal-affected district in eastern Bihar represented by Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Arun Bharti, possesses a disused airstrip that has lain dormant for decades and is heavily encroached. Local authorities initiated an encroachment-removal drive last year, raising hopes among residents of eventual air connectivity. Those expectations have now been dashed.
The decision underscores the market-driven nature of India’s regional aviation push. Under UDAN, routes are awarded only when airlines bid for them, typically requiring state government financial support in the form of viability-gap funding and infrastructure commitments. In the absence of such backing and demonstrable passenger demand, the Centre has chosen not to invest public funds in the project.
The development contrasts with Bihar’s broader aviation expansion. The state is on course to operationalise or upgrade at least 15 airports in the coming years. Purnea airport was inaugurated earlier this year, construction is progressing at Bihta near Patna, and greenfield or brownfield projects are underway in Muzaffarpur, Raxaul, Sultanpur, and Valmikipur, among others. Patna, Gaya, and Darbhanga already handle scheduled commercial traffic.
Analysts note that low projected load factors and high operating costs deter airlines from thinly populated or infrastructure-constrained Tier-3 locations unless heavily subsidised. Jamui’s proximity to larger existing airports such as Patna (≈200 km) and the newly operational Deoghar airport in neighbouring Jharkhand (≈100 km) is also believed to have weighed against its inclusion.
The Centre’s refusal is likely to fuel political criticism in Bihar, where regional connectivity remains an emotive electoral issue despite significant progress under both the current NDA dispensation and previous administrations.
