UP govt allots Rs 2,000 cr for Jewar airport in budget

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday allotted a fund of Rs 2,000 crore for the Jewar Airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

The announcement was made during the budget presentation by Finance Minister Suresh Khanna in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

"A budget of Rs 2,000 crore has been proposed for the Noida International Greenfield Airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Jewar. The airport is expected to go operational by 2023," Khanna said in his speech.

The UP government on Tuesday presented a Rs 5,12,860.72 crore budget for FY 2020-21 in the state assembly.

According to officials, the entire project will be spread over 5,000 hectares and is estimated to cost Rs 29,560 crores.

The first phase of the airport will be spread over 1,334 hectares and cost Rs 4,588 crore. The project is being managed and operated by Noida International Airport (NIAL), a special agency floated by the government, according to officials.

In NIAL, the Noida Authority has a stake of 37.5 percent, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has 12.5 percent, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) gas 12.5 percent, and the remaining 37.5 percent stake belongs to the UP government.

The airport, the third in the national capital region after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport and Ghaziabad's Hindon airport, is touted to have six to eight runways, the most in India, when fully built, the officials said.

Swiss firm Zurich Airport International AG had on November 29 emerged as the highest bidder to develop the Jewar airport on the outskirts of Delhi, outbidding competitors like Adani Enterprises, DIAL and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holding.