Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Jewar airport gets aviation ministry nod

- Vinod Rajput vinod.rajput@htlive.com

union ministry of civil aviation on Monday gave in principle approval for the ‘Greenfield Noida internatio­nal airport’ at Jewar along the 165-km Yamuna Expressway that connects Greater Noida and Agra.

The Yamuna Expressway industrial developmen­t authority (YEIDA) submitted a presentati­on about the detailed project report and techno-economic feasibilit­y report (TEFR) before a steering committee headed by the secretary, ministry of civil aviation. The committee has members from the home, civil aviation, defence and finance ministries and Airports Authority of India among other department­s.

“After a detailed discussion, the steering committee was satisfied with the outcome of the TEFR and gave in principle approval, making way for further progress on the project. The committee gave its in principle approval because the internal rate of return (IRR), financial outcome and traffic projection­s at this location were all satisfacto­ry. Getting in principle approval is the biggest achievemen­t because now we will start bidding process to hire a concession­aire to develop the project,” Shailendra Bhatia, officer on special duty, YEIDA, said.

According to the timeline prepared by the YEIDA, which is the nodal agency, the project will be inaugurate­d in October this year.

“As per the deadline, we aim to select the concession­aire in the beginning of October after completing all tender formalitie­s. The government aims to lay the foundation of this project in October,” said Bhatia. The ministry of civil aviation had on June 24, 2017, had given its approval to start work on the TEFR for an internatio­nal airport in Jewar.

The YEIDA in December 2017

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had hired Pricewater­houseCoope­rs (PwC) to prepare the TEFR. PwC submitted its final TEFR report on April 15. “We are happy with the in principle approval because it happened exactly as per the timeline we had set before we started work on it. We had applied for in-principle approval on April 16,” said Bhatia.

YEIDA has also applied for clearance for the project from the ministry of environmen­t, forest and climate change.

“...the ministry of environmen­t, forest and climate change is expected to give clearance in July this year. So, work on this project will begin in October,” Bhatia said.

 ?? BURHAAN KINU/HT FILE PHOTO ?? The Greenfield Noida Internatio­nal Airport is planned at Jewar along the Yamuna Expressway.
BURHAAN KINU/HT FILE PHOTO The Greenfield Noida Internatio­nal Airport is planned at Jewar along the Yamuna Expressway.

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