The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday signed the concession agreement with representatives of Zurich Airport International for the development of the Noida international airport at Jewar, 90 km from Delhi.
The airport will be developed on a public-private partnership model and is scheduled to open in 2024.
The ‘concession agreement’ for the greenfield airport was signed between the UP government’s agency Noida International Airport Authority (NIAL) and the Yamuna International Airport (YIAPL), a special purpose vehicle floated by the Zurich Airport for the project.
The airport, estimated to cost about Rs 30,000 crore, will cater to 70 million passengers annually after the completion of all the four stages of the project.
Speaking to FE, Daniel Bircher, MD and chairman for Yamuna International Airport, a 100% Zurich Airport subsidiary, said work on the project will start in six months after financial closure and land handover. “We will then take three years to build and will start operations by 2024,” he said, adding that the company is in advanced discussions and is confident to achieve financial closure within the next six months.”
The first phase of the Jewar airport will cater to 12 million passengers, Bircher said, adding that the second phase would cater to 30 million passengers, 50 million passengers in phase 3 and 70 million passengers by the end of the phase 4. “Planning for the next phase would start when 80% of the previous phase is reached,” Bircher added.
Switzerland’s Zurich Airport International had emerged as the highest bidder for the proposed international airport at Jewar in November last year. It had outbid the Delhi International Airport (DIAL), Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings to win the 40-year concession for the Noida airport.
The project, that had been in the works for the last two decades, has sparked hopes of spurring development of the area around it.
“The construction of Noida International airport will support economic growth through job creation, which will reinforce the economic progress of the state,” said SP Goyal, additional chief secretary, civil aviation, Uttar Pradesh.