After 14 years of political one-upmanship between the Centre and Uttar Pradesh, which was marked by respective regimes by different political parties, decks have been cleared for setting up a Greenfield international airport at Jewar in Greater Noida. The Modi Government’s approval to the project, likely to be operational in the next five to six years, comes as a boost to the Yogi Adityanath dispensation completing 100 days in office next week.
“In-principle clearance has been granted for the Greenfield Airport at Jewar,” Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told mediapersons in Delhi on Saturday.
His deputy Jayant Sinha said, “Within seven years, Delhi airport will see 109 million trips a year, which will saturate its capacity. For the sake of NCR and NCR’s connectivity having a second airport is vitally important and that is what Noida international airport will accomplish.”
After coming to power on March 19, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had sought fresh technical evaluation of the airport project at Jewar.
“A steering committee of Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had on Friday granted site clearance in principle for the Greenfield Airport at Jewar,” said UP Government spokesman and Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh in lucknow.
The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has notified 3,000 hectares of land in Jewar for a world-class international airport. Of the total land, 1,000 hectares will be acquired under the first phase of airport development, which will cost Rs 2,000 crore. The Government expects the entire project to cost Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore.
The Jewar international airport will be developed as the largest air cargo hub in the country and its capacity to handle 30-50 million passengers per year will put it on par with the Mumbai airport, which sees 45 million passengers per year. The Metro service in Noida is also likely to be extended up to Jewar in order to improve connectivity to the airport.
Singh, along with State Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, said that the UP Government was trying for the international airport since 2003. “The indifferent approach of the previous SP and BSP regimes in UP and also the indifference of the previous UPA Government at the Centre and the dispute over the project site had delayed the project,” said the Minister.
“Regional connectivity in UP, being significant for the State’s development, is high on the BJP Government’s agenda. While 85 per cent of State’s connectivity is through roads, we are trying to improve air connectivity too,” said Singh.
He said now the Government will start the process of land acquisition for the proposed airport.
The Minister said that the objection by the developer of Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi was also one of the reasons for delay in the Jewar project. “The agreement of the developer with Union Aviation Ministry said that no new airport would come within 150 km radius of Delhi airport. In the last ten years, the situation has changed as passenger traffic at Delhi airport has increased phenomenally and there was need for another airport in the NCR,” explained Singh.
Singh said that Jewar international airport is strategically located as it’s not only in the NCR region, but the dedicated freight corridor from ludhiana to West Bengal also passes close by the airport. The Minister said that UP Government has also taken up the issue of regional air connectivity service, Buddhist helicopter service and Ganga Darshan air service with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry.
Besides, the UP Government has asked Airport Authority of India to take over Kushinagar International Airport.
The Jewar airport project was conceived during Rajnath Singh’s regime in 2001 and given shape in 2002 by the next BSP-BJP coalition Government headed by Mayawati. Then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave a green signal. In August, 2003, Mayawati resigned as CM and was succeeded by Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party and his Government decided to shelve the project along with Taj Expressway linking Noida with Agra. In 2007, Mayawati was again voted to power and revived the Jewar airport project but it could not see the light of the day.