2nd phase of Jewar airport: 'Nearly 1,310 hectares of land needed from six villages'

Noida: Since a tripartite 'state support agreement' has been signed between the Uttar Pradesh government, the Yamuna International Airport private limited (YIAPL) and the Noida International airport Limited, to begin the construction of airport project in Jewar, the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration has also geared up for the land acquisition process in order to develop second phase of airport project.

Under phase-II, villages whose residents would be rehabilitated are karoli Bangar, Dayanatpur, Kiren, Ranhera, Mudrah and Virampur. "Around 125 hectares land belongs to government while rest 1,165 hectares of land is to be acquired. Nearly 3,000 crore is to be distributed for second phase land acquisition," the officer added.

As per senior administrative officials, a land acquisition draft for development of second phase of airport project has been sent to the state government. "Nearly 1,310 hectares of land from six villages will be needed for the second phase. One more runway and a civil aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility will be developed in the second phase construction of the project. The administration will start land acquisition process once we get final nod from state government," said a senior administrative officer.

The airport is expected to become operational by 2023-24 while the first phase construction will start at the site by mid of April. In total, the airport is projected to have five runways when it is developed to its full capacity over a total of 5,000 hectares of land. The concessionaire, Zurich International, has already got 1,334 hectares of land for the development of the first phase of the airport. The Swiss company will invest Rs 30,000 crore in the project and gets 40 years to fully develop the airport project.

The project will be developed under PPP model where the company will design, build, finance, operate and transfer the project to the government after 40 years. As of now a final map approval from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is awaited, however, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has already approved the map.