The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday signed a concession agreement with representatives of Zurich Airport International for designing, building and operating the Noida International Airport at Jewar for a period of 40 years.
The airport will be developed on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis and is scheduled to open in 2024. It will be located at a distance of 70 kms from Delhi, 40 kms from Noida and 130 kms from Agra.
“We are targeting the first six months for financial closures and the next 36 months for completion of the first phase of airport with a capacity of 1.2 crore passengers per annum. The project will be constructed with an initial investment of ₹4,588 crore for the first phase,” Daniel Bircher, Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Airport International Asia, told The Hindu in an e-mail. The airport will open with a single runway, but once it is fully developed by 2040, it will have two runways and will have a capacity of 7 crore passengers per annum.
Land for expansion
The airport will be developed on 1,334 hectares of land and the U.P. government has reserved an additional 5,000 hectares for airport expansion, Mr. Bircher added.
Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA) won the contract to build and operate the airport for a period of 40 years last November. ZAIA received the security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs in May this year.
To a question on whether another international airport so close to one in the national capital will be viable, Mr Bircher replied, “The Noida international airport will be a visionary airport for Delhi NCR, Noida and Western U.P., which will activate the catchment area and connect it to other metropolitan areas in India and the world. We see Noida International airport as complementary and an efficient alternative to Indira Gandhi International Airport which is set to reach its peak capacity of 11 crore in the next six or seven years”.
The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has also shared plans to link the airport with Yamuna Expressway, Metro and Western Peripheral Expressway.