A second international airport for Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) became a reality with the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday giving its nod to build a new airport at Greater Noida’s Jewar region in Uttar Pradesh.
“We have granted in-principle approval for a greenfield airport at Jewar (Greater Noida) to cater to the growing flying requirements of NCR,” Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said in New Delhi on Saturday.
The Noida international airport will cater to 30-50 million passengers per year over the next 10-15 years, Mr. Raju said.
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The airport will be spread across land area of 3000 hectares and is expected to bring in investment of up to Rs 20,000 crore. “The first phase will be developed on 1,000 hectare land,” the Mr. Raju said. The first phase of the project will cost Rs 10,000 crore.
The clearance for the long-standing airport project was given by the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Steering Committee that met here on Friday. The Committee gave its approval after taking inputs from Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Defence Ministry and other concerned Ministries.
The airport will be built on a public-private partnership model with the GMR Group, that currently operates New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, getting the Right of First Refusal at the time of bidding for the Noida international airport.
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The bidding for the new airport will be over in the next five-six years, Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey said, adding that farmers were ready to give land for the airport project “at negotiated terms”.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, said he saw a great opportunity for industrial houses, such as pharmaceutical and automobile companies, to set up factories near the airport site.
The plan for building a second airport at Jewar for the NCR was first submitted by the then UP Chief Minister Mayawati in 2003. However, the plan was later scrapped by UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in November 2012 which mooted a new airport site between Agra and Mathura.
The plan for the Noida airport in Jewar was later revived after BJP MP from Gautam Budh Nagar, Mahesh Sharma, also the previous Minister of State for Civil Aviation, pressed for building an international airport in his constituency.