Centre approves proposal to set up airport in Greater Noida
The Centre on Saturday approved the proposal for setting up a greenfield airport in Jewar in Greater Noida, likely to be operational in the next five-six years. "The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has notified 3,000 hectares of land for a world-class international airport which will cater to 30-50 million passengers per year," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said.
The proposal to set up a greenfield airport in Jewar in Greater Noida has finally been cleared by the government. Located in Gautam Budh Nagar district, adjoining national capital city Delhi, the airport is likely to be operational in the next five to six years. At a press briefing in Delhi today, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju was quoted by PTI as saying that "in-principle clearance has been granted" for the airport. The Civil Aviation Minister said that the airport will cater to 30-35 million passengers per year over the next 10 to 15 years. Raju said he is happy that 3,000 hectares of land have been identified in Jewar for the international airport. "In Delhi, we are expecting 91 million passengers by 2020 and 109 million passengers by 2024," Gajapathi Raju said at the briefing.Also at the briefing, Minister of State Jayant Sinha told media persons that within a year, the land procurement process is expected to be completed to start the bidding process for identifying the company which will develop the airport. "NOIDA TO TURN INTO AEROTROPOLIS""We expect that the first phase of the Airport will be operational in 5 years," Sinha said.  The minister of state also said, "With a Rs 15 thousand crores of investment, Noida will turn into a aerotropolis, UP officials have confirmed us to extend the Greater Noida metro upto Jewar to provide a multi modal transport facility in the airport area." "Noida International Airport will provide an alternate to meet this growing demand for air connectivity in the NCR,"  Jayant Sinha added. The new airport will boost economic activity for export oriented cities like Moradabad and Aligarh in Western Uttar Pradesh, Sinha further added.  Also at the briefing, Uttar Pradesh minister Siddharth Nath Singh thanked the central government for approving the setting up of the airpost in Greater Noida. "Jewar airport will be the cargo hub of the country apart from catering to domestic and international traffic," Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The decision to clear the proposal for the aiport was taken last evening in a meeting where the Defence Ministry said that it has no objections. The airport will help reduce congestion at the Delhi International Airport.UP BJP HAD WRITTEN TO CIVIL MINISTRY EARLIERIn the past, according to Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Sinha, the current BJP state government in Uttar Pradesh had written to his ministry for a technical evaluation of the proposed site.The minister pointed out that there was a need to consider development of a green field airport at Jewar, since the IGI airport located here will be utilising its full passenger handling capacity in another 4-8 years time.Earlier, a technical evaluation of the proposed site at Jewar was conducted, but due to the time lapse there was a need to conduct a fresh study, Sinha said.Also Read:Udan scheme: Now you can fly to these 43 cities, see the full list here