PremiumNEW DELHI: The concessionaire of the upcoming airport at Jewar, Yamuna International Airport Pvt. Ltd (YIAPL), has secured a loan of Rs3,725 crore from the State Bank of India (SBI), it said in a statement on Friday.
The funding is a crucial milestone as it validates the financial viability of the project while also outlining the next steps for the establishment of the Noida International Airport (NIA), YIAPL said.
In November 2019, Switzerland’s Zurich Airport International AG (ZAI) had emerged as the highest bidder for the proposed airport at Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, sparking hope for the long-delayed project and the development of the surrounding area.
ZAI had floated a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement the project.
The concession agreement for the greenfield airport was signed in October 2020 between YIAPL and Uttar Pradesh government agency Noida International Airport Authority.
The airport will cater to 12 million passengers once the first phase is completed by mid-2024. It will cater to 30 million passengers on the completion of the second phase, 50 million in the third phase, and 70 million passengers by the end of the fourth phase, subject to passenger growth.
"The entire loan of Rs3,725 crore has been underwritten by SBI on a door-to-door loan tenor of 20 years," said Christoph Schnellmann, chief executive officer, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited.
"We look forward to working closely with SBI to develop NIA as a world class airport in India. The project will not only boost the Indian economy but will also help in employment generation in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi NCR region," he added.
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