The government is likely to invite bids for over 100 routes under the fourth round of regional connectivity scheme UDAN or Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik in 3-4 weeks, sources aware of the development told CNBC-TV18.

The next phase of UDAN is expected to include routes vacated by Jet Airways such as Allahabad-Lucknow, Allahabad-Patna, Delhi-Ozar, Allahabad-Indore, Nagpur-Allahabad among others.

Bids are also likely to be invited for routes cancelled by airlines like Zoom Air, Air Odisha, Deccan Charter among others, those which did not get any bids in the last round of the regional connectivity scheme and a large number of routes of north-eastern region will also find place in the upcoming bidding round, sources said.

These would include routes such as Tezu-Jorhat, Passighat-Shillong, Tezpur-Lilabari, Shillong-Dimapur, Imphal-Silchar, Chandigarh-Pithoragarh, Agatti-Minicoy, Pondicherry-Chennai, Cochin-Agatti, Nasik-Sindhudurg, Rewa-Bhopal among others. In addition, some new routes in Andaman and Nicobar Islands such as Hutbay-Port Blair, Jaipur-Sri Ganganagar, Delhi-Sri Ganganagar are also likely to be included in the next round of UDAN.

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Players like Air Odisha and Air Deccan are unlikely to be allowed to bid in the upcoming round owing to their inability to start operations on most of the routes awarded to them in the earlier phases of UDAN, sources added.

UDAN, which promised to make air travel accessible to all, has not been able to fully take off even after three rounds. As per the latest official data, 200 out of the 719 awarded routes or only 28 percent of the awarded routes have been operational so far.

SpiceJet is the lead player in the scheme with exclusive rights for three years on 50 of these RCS routes. The Ajay Singh-promoted airline is followed by Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air with 45 routes. IndiGo is operating 38 such routes and hence, is at the third spot while Trujet network comprises 32 RCS routes.

Overall, the scheme has provided connectivity to 23 unserved airports out of the aim to operationalize 100 by the year 2026-27.

Under the scheme, the fare for half the seats for a one-hour journey of around 500 km on a fixed-wing aircraft or a 30-minute journey on a helicopter has been capped at Rs 2,500 with proportionate pricing for routes of different distances and flight durations.

Airlines also get subsidy from an annual regional connectivity fund. The central government contributes 80% to the fund, the remaining 20% is provided by states participating in the scheme.