Jewar to be second airport in Delhi NCR

NEW DELHI: Jewar in Greater Noida will become the second airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi after the aviation ministry granted approval to the project today. The government expects the airport to be operational in the next five to six years and would see an investment of about Rs 20,000 crore.

“We have granted in-principle approval for a greenfield airport at Jewar (Greater Noida) to cater to the growing flying requirements of NCR," aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju told reporters today.

He added that the International Airport will cater to 30-50 million passengers per year over the next 10-15 years. "The area notified for Noida Airport is 3,000 hectares. The first phase will be developed in 1000 hectares. We expect up to Rs 20,000 crore of investment into the project," Raju further said.

Jewar airport will be the first big ticket investment for Uttar Pradesh after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won election in the state in March this year.

The ministry also expects this airport to give a boost to connectivity in the whole of western Uttar Pradesh, which will give a boost to tourism and economic potential of the region.

This airport will not just address the aviation needs of Delhi airport but also a number of major cities like Agra, Bulandsahar, Meerut, Mathura among others.

“Delhi requires a second airport and an airport towards NOIDA side will make accessibility to the airport easier for a large part of the population. We expect the first phase of the airport, with a single runway and terminal building, to start operations by 2022,” said Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation.

Sinha added that it will give a tremendous boost to the region too. “The whole of region would get a tremendous boost that the airport will give to the economic activity and tourism in the area

The proposal for an airport in Jewar was made in 2001 when current Home Minister Rajnath Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. His successor Mayawati also backed the plan and acquired more than 2,000 acre for the project.

The UPA government at the Centre then formed a group of ministers to decide on the project as it violated a policy to build another airport within 150 km of the existing one in Delhi. The plan was revived after Mahesh Sharma, who represents Noida in the Lok Sabha, became MoS for Civil Aviation. He was later replaced by Jayant Sinha.