Work begins at int’l airport site in Noida
Concessionaire starts levelling the ground to pave way for the airport that will serve 70mn when ready
NOIDA: The construction work on the international airport project started on Monday in Gautam Budh Nagar’s Jewar area.
The airport is proposed to come up on 1,334 hectares over the next four years under phase 1 of the project.
The Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), the special purpose vehicle created for developing the airport, confirmed the development.
“We have commenced preparatory work at the construction site of the airport after getting approvals from all the relevant authorities. We are also thankful to the Uttar Pradesh government in providing us full support to expedite work at the airport site,” read a statement from YIAPL, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International, the Swiss company that won the rights to develop the project last year.
According to officials, the first phase of the airport will have a capacity to serve 12 million passengers a year.
On Monday, the company began levelling the field that was once agricultural land, said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer (CEO) of Noida International Airport Limited (Nial), which is the Uttar Pradesh government’s nodal agency to implement the mega project.
“We allowed the company to construct a boundary wall at the site. Gradually, the construction of site office and an air traffic control building too will start,” said Singh. Nial has on its board the Uttar Pradesh government, Noida authority, the Greater Noida authority and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida).
Singh said phase one of the project is scheduled to be completed in 36 months. “Phase one includes 1,334 hectares of land and will commence operations with one runway. Later, more runways will be added. In each phase, the airport will expand to eventually serve 70 million passengers by the end of phase four, subject to passenger growth and traffic,” Singh said.
There will be two runways in phase 1. By the end of phase 4, the airport is projected to have five runways and over 5,000 hectares. Singh said YIAPL had secured ₹3,725 crore loan from the State Bank of India (SBI) earlier this month. “This amount has now been dispensed to the company for the construction of the airport,” he said.
A formal foundation stone laying ceremony will also be held at the airport site soon and is likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“All preparations for the ceremony are done and it will be held as soon as we get a final confirmation from the Prime Minister’s office on the date,” said Dhirendra Singh, Jewar MLA.
Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas LY said the commencement of construction of the airpor was a matter of pride for the district.
“This has only been possible because of the support of nearly 9,000 farmers and local residents who gave their land for the mega project. In fact, their rehabilitation was probably the largest in the country. Generally, land becomes a major bone of contention in such big projects, but the people have been supportive,” said Suhas.
Officials said the land for first phase has been acquired from villages Ranhera, Rohi, Parohi, Kishorpur, Dayanatpur and Banwaribas in Jewar sub-division of GB Nagar.
The airport is billed to be the largest in India upon completion and will be the National Capital Region’s third, after the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Ghaziabad’s Hindon airport.