By Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given the go-ahead to the name, design and logo of the much-awaited international airport at Noida’s Jewar. Yogi said the airport, which will be officially known as Noida International Greenfield Airport, will become a global brand and the pride of India.
A look at the airport’s key features, its timeline, the politics that kept it in abeyance thus far, and finally its revival.
The airport’s key features:
Passenger capacity: The NOIDA International Greenfield Airport, Jewar will be developed in four phases. Its initial capacity will be 12 million passengers annually, which is expected to increase to 70 million passengers every year by 2050.
Runways: The airport will start with two runways and can have up to five runways in subsequent years.
Cost: The cost for the Jewar Airport is estimated to be around Rs 30,000 crore.
Area: While the airport is expected to come up on about 5,000 hectares of land, the government has acquired 1,334 hectares of land for the project in which two runways will be built in the initial phase and additional 50 hectares of land for the rehabilitation of those displaced owing to the project. The remaining land would be acquired in a phased manner.
Its significance: The airport is expected to share the load of the IGI Airport in Delhi. Moreover, with the Delhi airport expected to reach its capacity in the next few years, experts say this airport would serve as an alternative given its plan to expand up to 70 million passengers per year and with five runways.
The logo: The airport has the state bird ‘saras’ (crane) as its logo. Sources in the government informed that the logo was presented before the Chief Minister this Thursday. They said the bird is in a flying posture so as to indicate connectivity with the rest of the world.
The airport will be officially known as Noida International Greenfield Airport. (Source: Delhi Noida International Airport via Twitter/@dr_maheshsharma)
The project through regimes
While the airport project in its present form has been referred to as a “greenfield project”, the idea was first proposed in 2001 when Rajnath Singh was Chief Minister in 2001 though it did not materialise then.The project was called Taj International and Aviation Hub at the time.
It got a push during the regime of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) in the state led by then chief minister Mayawati from 2007 to 2012, with even a cargo hub proposed along with it. However, the project could not make any headway because of the Centre-state tussle with the former pointing out its proximity to the existing international airport in Delhi, which, it said, was against an agreement that no airport can come within the 150km radius of the Delhi Airport.
The project was then sidelined during the SP regime, which began pressing for an international airport in Agra so as to build a connectivity with its dream project, Lucknow-Agra Expressway.
The project was revived during the current BJP regime, and with the same party at the centre and the state, things could move way faster. The site clearance for the airport came in 2017. Over the past three years, various clearances, including security, environment, bidder, etc followed. It is Zurich Airport International AG that won the bid for developing the airport in December last year.
The airport is expected to share the load of the IGI Airport in Delhi. (Source: Delhi Noida International Airport via Twitter/@dr_maheshsharma)
The timeline
July 6, 2017: Site clearance by Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.
October 5, 2017: NOC from Ministry of Home Affairs.
July 11, 2018: NOC from Ministry of Defense.
November 29, 2019: Financial bids opened. Zurich Airport International AG bids a premium bid of ? 400.97 per passenger.
December 16, 2019: UP government selects Zurich Airport International AG as the developer.
March 9, 2020: Project gets environmental clearance.
May 2020: Project granted security clearance by Ministry of Civil Aviation Government.
October 07, 2020: Zurich International Airport AG’s Special purpose vehicle for the project i.e. Yamuna International Airport Pvt. Ltd and UP government sign a Concession Agreement.
December 17, 2020: Project is named “NOIDA International Greenfield Airport, Jewar”; its logo of a flying Saras as well its design cleared by the government.
