HDFC Bank to lend Rs 500 crores for Jewar Airport project

Private lender HDFC Bank has reportedly entered into an agreement with the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), to offer a Rs 500-crore loan. The loan amount, for a period of five years, which will be used to buy land for the airport project and its development, could be increased at a later stage.

The YEIDA has already secured financial assistance to the tune of Rs 4,500 crores for the development of the project, touted to be the biggest airport in India upon completion. However, the overall cost of the Jewar Airport project development is estimated to be over Rs 29,500 crores. While stating that the agency has achieved the financial closure for the project’s first phase, YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh said that it is planning to raise between Rs 20,000 crores and Rs 25,000 crores through infrastructure bonds.

In the meantime, the YEIDA has also upped its ante against illegal developments along the project site, as instances of encroachments have increased after the Swiss company Zurich International AG, in October 2020, signed the agreement to start work on the project.

The YEIDA has advised not to buy land near the project site without taking clearance for the same from the authority, which owns the 165-km Yamuna Expressway that connects Greater Noida with Agra. “We have been warning people not to fall into the trap laid by the illegal developers. We will demolish all kinds of illegal construction coming up in our jurisdiction,” said Singh. On October 31, 2020, the authority demolished illegal constructions of over 2,00,000 sq metres at the Tappal area.

“To make sure the illegal housing or other kinds of projects do not come up in our jurisdiction, we are exercising zero tolerance and taking tough action against those involved in such unauthorised activities,” said Singh, while adding that the general public should not to buy plots or other property here without YEIDA’s authorisation.

(With inputs from Sunita Mishra)

Jewar Airport: Zurich Airport and UP government sign pact, phase-I to be ready by 2024

Zurich Airport has signed the concession agreement with the government of Uttar Pradesh, to develop the Jewar Airport, paving the way for the construction of phase-I by 2024

October 8, 2020: Swiss aviation company Zurich Airport International (Flughafen Zürich AG), on October 7, 2020, signed a concession agreement with the government of Uttar Pradesh, to develop the national capital region’s second airport at the proposed site in Jewar, a move that would improve the prospects of Noida’s real estate market in a big way. 

Located 70 kms away from the India Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the Jewar Airport, formally named the Noida International Airport, is expected to cater not only to the spill-over traffic from Delhi’s IGI Airport but also to several new areas in western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

According to the Swiss company, which outbid players like Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited to win the contact for the Jewar Airport in November 2019, the airport will serve 12 million passenger once phase-I of the project is complete in a matter of three-and-a-half years’ time.

According to Zurich Airport International CEO Daniel Bircher, phase-I of the project will be ready by early 2024, even though the ongoing conditions pose a challenge. The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on air traffic projections at Jewar airport, is likely to be limited, said Bircher.

“In the last five to six years, a growth rate of over 20% has been observed for some airports in India. So, any substantial changes in traffic projections are not seen. Domestic travel will rebound very quickly,” Bircher said, after the signing of the pact with the UP government. “Today, there is an impact (on account of the Coronavirus crisis) but we are very confident that India, with such a large domestic market, will very strongly rebound as we have seen in 2011-12,” he added.

To be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crores, the first phase of the airport project with one runway will be spread over an area of 1,334 hectares. By the fourth phase, Zurich will build two runways to cater to a projected passenger traffic of 70 million.

While the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has already identified 5,000 hectares of land for the Jewar Airport development, it may increase the land supply, depending on the future requirements, says Arun Veer Singh, CEO of the development body.

(With inputs from Sunita Mishra)

Work on Jewar Airport may start soon as concession agreement to be signed by October 15, 2020

September 29, 2020: Zurich Airport International AG, the company that won the bid to build the Jewar Airport project in 2019 and Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, the special purpose vehicle for the project, are set to sign a concession agreement for the Jewar Airport by October 15, 2020

The agreement between Zurich Airport International AG and Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project, was set to be signed in July 2020, after Zurich Airport International received the clearance to carry out the project work from the home affairs ministry, on May 19, 2020 but the process was delayed, because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that resulted in a halt to international flight operations.

While NIAL is the nodal agency to monitor the airport project in Jewar, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited is the SPV formed in January 2020 for the development and airport project.

“Once the agreement is signed, Zurich will start work at the site in the next six months, as it needs time to mobilise the workforce and also rope-in the required agencies,” said NIAL CEO Arun Vir Singh.

According to official estimates, the first phase of the airport project, which will be the biggest airport in India with the capacity to handle 70 million passengers a year by 2040-50, is likely to be completed by 2023. Land acquisition work for the project is yet to be completed. The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has so far acquired 1,334 hectares of land while nearly 5,000 hectares of land are needed to develop the project in four phases.

(With inputs from Sunita Mishra)

Jewar Airport gets Rs 2,000 crores in UP Budget for 2020-21

The Jewar International Airport near Delhi has been allocated Rs 2,000 crores in the Uttar Pradesh Budget for 2020-21

February 19, 2020: The Noida International Greenfield Airport at Jewar near Delhi has been allotted Rs 2,000 crores, which is about half of the estimated cost of its first phase of construction, in the Uttar Pradesh Budget for 2020-21, which was presented in the state assembly by finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, on February 17, 2020. “The airport is expected to go operational by 2023,” Khanna said, in his speech.

Meanwhile the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has also started disbursing compensation to farmers, in lieu of assets on their land acquired for the Jewar Airport, officials said. The first chunk of Rs 11.98 crores was transferred into the bank accounts of 272 people from the five villages of Rohi, Dayanatpur, Kishorpur, Ranhera and Parohi, the officials said. According to officials, Rs 700 crore are to be disbursed among around 8,900 people from the affected villages in lieu of assets on their land like tubewells, submersibles, vegetation and property.

(With inputs from PTI)

Jewar Airport: Gautam Buddh Nagar administration completes land acquisition for phase-I

January 29, 2020: The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration, on January 27, 2020, acquired around 18 hectares of land, completing the land acquisition for the first phase of the Jewar Greenfield International Airport. “The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has transferred the last parcel of land acquired for the Jewar Airport to the Yamuna Authority. In total, 1,334 hectares of land has been transferred in the first phase. This chapter is closed. The first parcel was transferred on August 6, 2019. More than Rs 3,000 crores has been transferred to land owners in seven months,” district collector Brajesh Narain Singh said.

However, around two dozen villagers, who have been protesting against the land acquisition for two years now, clashed with the administration officials who were accompanied by more than 40 policemen and allegedly pelted stones at them, in which the sub-divisional magistrate got injured, a senior official said. The district administration has approached the police and an FIR was being registered against some villagers who took to violence, the official said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Zurich Airport wins bid to develop Jewar Airport

The Zurich Airport International AG has been selected as the concessionaire for developing the Jewar Airport in the National Capital Region

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet, on December 9, 2019, approved Zurich Airport International as the developer for the Jewar Airport and the construction of what is being billed the biggest airport in the country, is expected to begin in February 2020. The conditional letter of award pertaining to the Noida International Greenfield Airport, Jewar, was handed over to the CEO of Zurich Airport International AG, Daniel Bircher, on December 16, 2019,

Zurich Airport International AG has made the highest per passenger bid, for developing the Jewar International Airport, officials announced, on November 29, 2019. The Switzerland-headquartered company outbid competitors like Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited. The Jewar Airport or the Noida International Greenfield Airport is billed to be the biggest airport in India, upon completion. It will come up in a 5,000-hectare area when fully constructed and is estimated to cost Rs 29,560 crores, nodal officer for the project, Shailendra Bhatia said.

(With inputs from PTI)

PM Modi likely to lay foundation stone for Jewar airport in February 2019: Minister

January 30, 2019: The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Jewar airport, is likely to be held between February 23 and 25, 2019,” Sharma, the MP from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Mahesh Sharma announced, on January 30, 2019. The proposed airport, the second in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, would cost around Rs 15,000 crores to Rs 20,000 crores and is expected to be operational by 2022-23.

(With inputs from PTI)

Jewar Airport: UP government approves Rs 1,260 crores for land acquisition

November 26, 2018: The Uttar Pradesh government has approved a fund of Rs 1,260 crores, released for acquisition of land in the first phase of airport construction, for the proposed Jewar airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar. The amount is to be spent for land acquisition and payment to the farmers concerned, according to an official document.

“The governor has approved sanction of Rs 1,259 crores, for the acquisition of land for the Jewar Airport in the financial year 2018-19,” special secretary Surya Pal Gangwar wrote, in a letter to the director of state Civil Aviation Ministry. At a meeting held in Lucknow to discuss the progress of the project, on November 14, 2018, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials of the Noida International Airport Limited and the Gautam Budh Nagar administration, to expedite work on the airport.

A total of 5,000 hectares of land is to be acquired for the greenfield airport, estimated to cost between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 crores. For the first phase of the airport, 1,334 hectares of land is required. 1,239 hectares of land belonging to farmers from six villages – Rohi, Dayanatpur, Parohi, Kishorpur, Ranhera and Banwariwas – will be acquired by the state government and due compensation will be given to them, officials said. The remaining 94 hectares of land in the region, already belongs to the government.

As on September 10, 2018, a statement from the district information office said that 3,076 farmers had agreed for the acquisition of their 1,138 hectares of land for the proposed airport. With this, Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh has said that the administration has obtained the farmers’ consent, for acquiring almost 93 per cent of the land required for the development of phase-I of the proposed Jewar airport.

(With inputs from PTI)

US companies evince interest in Jewar airport: Minister

May 10, 2018: Uttar Pradesh health minister Sidhartha Nath Singh, who was on a five-day visit to the US, on May 9, 2018, announced that many US companies have expressed interest in the upcoming international Jewar airport. Speaking to reporters after returning from the US, the minister said, the state is ‘heading towards Global Investor Summit’.

Singh said that various companies, including the Boeing, showed interest in making a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre at Jewar airport. Similarly, VT System evinced interest in having an MRO unit in Meerut.

(With inputs from PTI)

Centre gives in-principle approval for Jewar airport

April 24, 2018: The centre has given an in-principle approval to the proposed greenfield airport near Jewar, in Gautam Buddh Nagar, during a steering committee meeting held in New Delhi. The approval to this effect was given at the meeting on April 23, 2018, attended by principal secretary (civil aviation) SP Goyal and other senior officials, special secretary for civil aviation, Suryapal Gangwar said.

See also: UP to expedite Jewar airport, roll out metro in Agra, Kanpur

The detailed project report and techno-economic feasibility report for the project, have been prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers. As per the report, acquisition of 1,441 hectares of land in eight villages, is proposed for the airport, which will be built on the PPP mode. The work for the project will be taken up in four phases, at an approximate cost of Rs 15,754 crores, he said.

The airport will have two runways, with a capacity to handle 70 million passengers annually and cargo handling capacity of three million metric tonnes per year. Preliminary work on the project had started in April 2017 and it is because of the coordination between the centre and the state that the in-principle approval has been accorded within one year time, he said. On July 6, 2017, the steering committee had given site clearance to the project, he said. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has already been made the nodal agency for this project.

(With inputs from PTI)

How will the Jewar Airport impact the property market?

Will the government’s in-principle clearance to the Jewar airport in Delhi-NCR, have any meaningful impact on the real estate market in this region, or merely provide developers with an additional tool to market their projects? We examine

Ever since the second airport for Delhi-NCR in Jewar was given an in-principle clearance, developers in the property markets of Noida and even Ghaziabad, have been trying to make the best of it, to overcome the prolonged spell of slowdown in sales. This raises a moot question: Can a domestic airport change the dynamics of the property market, in and around a radius of, say, 100 kms? An airport, no doubt, has the potential to transform the urban landscape of the region, but to assume that the airport alone can change the economy of the region, would be a misplaced presumption. The Jewar airport is no exception to this norm.

RK Arora, CMD of Supertech, welcomes the government’s move to clear the proposal for setting up an airport in Jewar. In the first phase, the government will develop 1,000 hectares of land. “Besides reducing the congestion at the Delhi Airport, the proposed Jewar airport will generate demand in the real estate sector, in Yamuna Expressway and Greater Noida,” says Arora.

Considering that the airport will be developed in phases, it will have little or no impact in the short to medium term. With a long-term outlook of 15 to 20 years, any property market is likely to seem attractive and the areas connecting to Jewar are no exception. However, with the average age of home buyers today being 40 years and above, such an outlook may not make sense, for investing in the region.

How will the Jewar Airport be developed?

It also remains to be seen, how many bidders would come forward for this public-private partnership (PPP) model. The failure of the Jaypee Group with the Yamuna Expressway, which proved to be a catalyst in their market collapse, is something that will be high on the minds of prospective bidders. These bidders will anyway commission their own feasibility study, rather than relying on the government’s projections of traffic, before making a bid.

See also: How will Delhi’s updated Land Pooling Policy, impact Delhi-NCR’s property market

Demand and supply of property near Jewar Airport

The economy of the region may also hinder the immediate success of the airport, as it has no major businesses and multi-national companies remain reluctant to set up their bases in this part. There are many other logistical, as well as law and order issues that need to be tackled simultaneously, in order to make the region an investment haven.

There is also a supply overhang, as the region is sitting on no less than four to five years of inventory. This leaves little scope for any appreciation in the property market, due to the upcoming airport. Moreover, the Delhi Land Pooling Policy is expected to throw open more than 55,000 hectares of land. Therefore, there will be sizeable inventory to address the mass housing segment, at competitive prices. It will also make the locations of Najafgarh, Narela and Bawana have proper Delhi address (instead of Uttar Pradesh) and will have equally good connectivity, if not better, with the already functional Indira Gandhi International Airport.

According to Nikhil Hawelia, managing director of the Hawelia Group, since Greater Noida is more developed, it will have more traction than Yamuna Expressway. “An airport is a long-term project. With the kind of inventory that is available today, the immediate impact may not be that much. However, in the long term, it can be a game changer, provided that industries are also developed in the region,” Hawelia sums up.

Why the property market may not gain much from the Jewar Airport

• Supply far exceeds the demand across Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway.
• With the Delhi Land Pooling Policy, more housing supply is likely to be added to the pipeline, with Delhi address and closer to the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
• The five-year time frame for the first phase of the Jewar airport seems unrealistic.
• Acquisition of 3,000 hectares of land with 40 odd villages, will be a tricky affair.
• Failure of the Jaypee Group with Yamuna Expressway, will makes bidders for the airport apprehensive.

FAQs

(The writer is CEO, Track2Realty)

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