Jewar airport to be developed in four phases

Lucknow : Nearly 3,000 hectares of land would be needed for the development of an international airport at Jewar near Noida and 1,206 hectares costing around Rs 3,000 crore would be needed in the first phase, according to Uttar Pradesh government estimates.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has gave its go ahead for formalities to be completed and an 'in-principle' nod being sought for the development of the Noida International Greenfield Airport at a meeting here last night.The airport in Gautam Buddha Nagar will be developed in four phases, an official spokesman said.

The cabinet gave its go-ahead to complete formalities to apply with the Union government for in-principle approval for development of the Jewar airport, the spokesman said.In all, 3,000 hectares of land will be needed for the project. Out of this, 1206 hectares at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore will be required in first phase.

The international airport is billed to cater to 30-50 million passengers per year over the next 10-15 years. The area notified for Noida Airport is 3,000 hectares and the first phase will be developed in 1,000 hectares.The civil aviation ministry expects this airport to give a boost to connectivity in the whole of western Uttar Pradesh, which will in turn bolster tourism and economic potential of the region.

The proposal for an airport in Jewar was made in 2001 when current Home Minister Rajnath Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. His successor Mayawati also backed the plan and acquired more than 2,000 acres for the project.The erstwhile UPA government at the Centre then formed a group of ministers to decide on the project as it violated a policy guideline prohibiting building of another airport within 150 km of the existing one in Delhi.The plan was revived after Mahesh Sharma, who represents Noida in the Lok Sabha, became the Union minister of state for civil aviation.