Logistics and tourism — the long-term success of the Noida International Airport hinges mostly on these two axles.
Scheduled to start operations in 2023, the expansion of the airport is expected to continue till 2040. The first phase of the project is on track. The next phases will depend on the airport’s commercial success, which is where the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority’s (YEIDA) development plans for the region around the airport along Yamuna Expressway become a key factor.
The development model is symbiotic: while the airport itself will rely on the business and commerce scene in the National Capital Region, projects planned around it are both expected to contribute to the airport’s footfall while benefiting greatly from planes landing in their vicinity. One of the projects on the anvil is a heritage hub to be developed in Raya; another is a logistics centre in Tappal. YEIDA hopes the heritage hub will attract a chunk of the foreign tourists who visit the Vrindavan-Mathura-Agra belt.
Apart from religious tourism around Mathura and Vrindavan, the Raya project will also focus on cultural heritage of the Braj region. In the absence of upscale hotels and other hospitality options in Mathura, international travellers usually prefer to stay in Agra or plan a day trip to Mathura from Delhi. The Raya heritage city has been planned to bridge this gap — the distance from Vrindavan is just 25km.
The logistics centre will spread across 20km, off the Yamuna Expressway, and extend between Tappal in Aligarh and Bajna, a town in neighbouring Mathura. YEIDA had initially planned to develop the two regions — situated at a distance of about 30km and 80km from Jewar toll plaza — after 2025. But with its schemes in the 2020-21 fiscal year generating good response because of the airport project, YEIDA has begun preparing a blueprint for the two clusters.
On November 27, YEIDA had started the process of appointing a consultant for the feasibility-cum-detailed project report of the two clusters. YEIDA’s chief executive officer, Arun Vir Singh, said the entire Dadri-Greater Noida belt would shape up as a multi-modal logistics hub. In fact, Dadri might emerge as one of the most important transit hubs for logistics and movement of goods in the country as the western dedicated freight corridor will meet the eastern corridor here.
The Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) has started work on augmenting infrastructure to strengthen the Surajpur, Sikandrabad and Chola industrial belts. “We started work on improving infrastructure in Surajpur region this year itself. The Dadri inland container depot will act as the vital transport mode in north India for exporters. The presence of the airport will also bring in some business for the industrial belts in Noida and Bulandshahr,” said Sanjay Tiwari, executive engineer at UPSIDA.
But with so many industrial clusters available within 60km of Dadri, why would anyone consider moving to Tappal and Bajna in the coming years?
Singh said that 10 years from now, land rates in Greater Noida and Jewar would go up substantially. “The Tappal–Bajna logistics park is being planned to meet the demands of 2030. It will take several years for things to shape up. But once things pick up, people looking for a large land bank will have to move south of Jewar since land in Jewar and Bulandshahr will become expensive. Plus, not every industrial belt offers six-lane expressway connectivity, that too close to an international airport,” said Singh.