Instead of 1,334 hectares, the airport will now be developed over 1,350 hectares, with the additional 16 hectares to be utilised for building a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre. The additional land is being acquired in Kureb village, directly from farmers, officials said.The first phase of Noida International Airport will be a little bigger than the original plan.
A senior official connected with the project told that the land parcel is needed close to the stretch where the runway has been earmarked. “That makes Kureb the ideal location,” he added. Moreover, the village has already been notified under Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority.
In fact, the requirement of the additional land was felt soon after Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), the 100% subsidiary of concessionaire Zurich Airport International, submitted its master plan to Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), the special purpose vehicle of the UP government established to develop the greenfield airport in Jewar.
According to officials, after superimposing the various components of the master plan on the revenue map, it was found that additional space will be needed for the MRO centre. Though originally 1,334 hectares were acquired in six villages for the airport under the Land Acquisition Act, the land for MRO centre had not been provisioned then.
Zurich Airport International has been awarded the 40-year concession rights to operate the Jewar airport.
Arun Vir Singh, CEO of the Yamuna Expressway Authority, and who also heads NIAL, said, “The airport will be developed over 1,350 hectares now. We have already begun work to aggregate the additional 16 hectares and officials are getting in touch with owners of the agricultural fields situated in Kureb village.” Officials said that Rs 2,300 per sqm will be offered to farmers and that negotiations are on with the land owners. As the runway of the proposed airport is to developed in Nagla Ganeshi, the authorities have to get the village vacated by completing the process of rehabilitating 238 families. The additional land that is being aggregated is located within one km from Nagla Ganeshi.
Additional district magistrate (land acquisition) Balram Singh said, “As Kureb was already notified under YEIDA, there was no need for the administration to step in and notify the act. Meanwhile, other villagers displaced by the airport project have also started building their houses in the Jewar Bangar township and by the end of this month, all the six villages will be vacated.”
NIAL’s nodal officer Shailendra Bhatia said, “The additional land will be used to set up the MRO centre. It will be the best and most advanced MRO centre in northern India and will improve the financial viability of the project for all the stakeholders.”
With the latest development, the first phase will cover seven villages of Jewar sub-division, which include Rohi, Parohi, Ranhera, Dayanatpur, Kishorpur, Banwaribas as well as Kureb.
Simultaneously, the district administration has also commenced the procedure for carrying out a social impact assessment study of the villagers who will be impacted during land acquisition for the second phase of the project.