The End of Overpriced Airport Food: Where to Find the ₹20 Samosa Before Your Flight
New Delhi, April 3, 2026 — Anyone who has ever flown out of an Indian terminal knows the familiar, frustrating sting of airport dining. Waiting for a boarding announcement naturally brings on a craving for a quick snack, only for flyers to be greeted by heavily inflated bills for basic items. But thanks to a massive new government initiative, the days of paying premium, exorbitant prices for a simple cup of tea are officially over.
A brand-new, passenger-centric initiative called the UDAN Yatri Café is quietly revolutionizing terminal food courts, and it promises to save your wallet from pre-flight hunger pangs.
The Magic Numbers: ₹10 Chai and ₹20 Samosas
Operating under a fresh push from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, these outlets are focused entirely on providing hyper-affordable, pocket-friendly food and beverages to flyers.
At an UDAN Yatri Café, the pricing looks more like a local street stall than an international terminal. A cup of chai costs just ₹10. For coffee drinkers, a hot cup is priced at an incredibly reasonable ₹20. The affordability extends to the food menu as well, where travelers can grab a hot samosa or a serving of traditional sweets for just ₹20.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu recently highlighted the rapid expansion of these cafés, praising the initiative as a crucial step toward making air travel far more comfortable and accessible for the everyday citizen.
Now Operating at 24 Airports
This is not just a small pilot project. The UDAN Yatri Cafés are already fully operational at 24 airports across India.
The wide reach includes major metropolitan hubs like Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad, alongside highly frequented airports in Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune, and Ahmedabad. Fliers traveling through Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jammu, Mangaluru, Trivandrum, and Coimbatore will also find these budget-friendly counters.
The extensive list of operational locations also covers Agartala, Gwalior, Varanasi, Indore, Patna, Rajkot, Bhubaneswar, Surat, Hollongi, and Vijayawada.
Democratising the Skies
The foundation for this initiative stretches back to the launch of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the original goal was to democratize air travel by making flight tickets affordable for the common person, the vision has now expanded to the terminal experience itself.
By ensuring that food and beverages inside airports are priced for the masses, the government is ensuring that the entire journey—from entering the terminal gates to touching down—remains genuinely pocket-friendly. So, the next time you find yourself waiting for a flight, skip the overpriced gourmet coffee counter; your ₹10 chai is waiting just around the corner.
